


It Feels Like A Dream

by Sunshinehina



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Angst I guess, Apocalypse, M/M, Zombie Apocalypse, but happy ending, mostly tsukihina, trying to write more on the other pairings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-19
Updated: 2018-03-17
Packaged: 2018-11-16 03:46:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 19,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11245650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sunshinehina/pseuds/Sunshinehina
Summary: Karasuno (minus Kinoshita and Narita) was having a fun day together when something unexpected happened and everything turned into chaos.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I really love Tsukihina and I feel like there isn't enough Tsukihina fanfics, so I was like I'm gonna make one on my own!! lol. Oh, a little bit of warning, I'm not experienced in writing fanfic so I'm sorry if this is a bit shitty. ;-;  
> This is a short first chapter, but I promise the second one would be longer.  
> Let me know what do you think! :>
> 
> p.s still trying to think of a better title, might change the title in the future? idk.

It all happened when they were having a team-bonding activity. They went to a mall together, wanting to go and watch the new horror movie together but ended up not getting any tickets because it was full. Kinoshita and Narita were not with them because they both had things to do, so the crows just went around the mall randomly. Daichi was constantly scolding and sighing because of Tanaka, Nishinoya and Hinata while Tsukishima looked annoyed as usual because things weren’t going as they planned. Yamaguchi just watched everyone amusedly, while Sugawara smiled fondly at his teammates. Nishinoya went to Daichi and suggested them to go to the game center so that they all can have fun together. Surprisingly, Daichi regarded it as a good idea.

"Kei!" Hinata called him. "We're gonna go to the game center and play! Let's go!" He grabbed his boyfriend's hand and dragged him, Tsukishima just sighed and let his short boyfriend dragged him.

Kageyama and Yamaguchi held hands, walking side by side and following their teammates while chatting casually. Nishinoya dragged Asahi and went ahead of everyone. Ennoshita was telling Tanaka to stop shouting and Tanaka was pouting at him. Daichi was starting to have a headache again, while Sugawara patted him on his back to soothe his boyfriend.  
"I swear my hair is gonna turn white soon." Daichi sighed and Sugawara laughed.  
"Nah, it won't." He grinned. Daichi was going to say something again, but he was soon distracted by Ennoshita shouting.  
"Tanaka!! Put your shirt back on! We're in public place!" He shouted in exasperation. Daichi soon went to put some sense into Tanaka's head. They all had fun in the game center, even though a lot of the times they were causing ruckus.

Then suddenly, it was chaos.

People just started running and screaming. They didn't understand what was happening, but Daichi was quick. He made sure everyone was there and told them to stay calm. He then led them all to the bathroom, which was deserted already.

"W-what's happening?" Hinata croaked, breaking the silence. No one had the answer.

_Attention! There has been a virus outbreak. Everyone is to remain calm and evacuate to the nearest camp._

"V-v-virus outbreak?! What virus?" Asahi was already shaking.

"We should probably head back to school. We have to get back to our families." Sugawara said. He was starting to get worried. At the mention of family, everyone started getting anxious. They didn't know what's happening and they were separated with their families. They didn't know what to do.

"Everybody calm down." Daichi was trying to keep everyone under control. "I'm going to check out what's happening outside, and if it's safe for us to go." He said calmly. "Ennoshita, would you go with me?" Ennoshita nodded without hesitation. "Alright. Everyone stay here and stay calm, don't make any noise, and don't let anyone in. "

Daichi and Ennoshita went outside. Nishinoya was busy reassuring Asahi, while Kageyama is frowning while patting Yamaguchi, who was shaking. Sugawara was trying to keep Tanaka down, as he was trying to go after Daichi and Ennoshita. Hinata stared at Tsukishima, worried about his family and everyone, doesn't know what to do.

"It will be fine, Shouyou." Tsukishima said calmly. Tsukishima was worried too, but he was trying to stay calm so that he can think rationally. Hinata however, was uncharacteristically quiet. Tsukishima was going to say something when he finally spoke.  
"Kei?" His voice was quiet when he finally looked at Tsukishima. Tsukishima just stared back quietly. "Don't go anywhere."  
"Never." Tsukishima replied without missing abeat as he squeezed his small boyfriend's hand.

Everyone was silenced when Daichi and Ennoshita went back to the bathroom, faces pale. Everyone held their breath as they waited for their captain to speak.

"It's.." Daichi didn't know how to explain. "It's...chaos. It's like the movies."

"What movies?"

"The.. the ones with zombies in it."

And then they heard someone banging the bathroom door.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hii! Here's the second chapter. This is like my second Haikyuu fic ever and I only started writing like one or two weeks ago, i don't even know why I'm writing about zombie apocalypse hahah it's clearly too hard/advanced for me bc i'm bad at describing things but i hope you enjoyed this! I'd be very happy if anyone's still interested in reading this fic! i'll do my best ;;w;;

Turns out that it was a rescue team who was banging the door. Contrary to the zombie movies they had watched, they weren’t left to fend for themselves. The government was quick, there were rescue teams everywhere, trying to save as many civilians as possible. Because for every civilian they saved, they have one less zombie to worry about. 

 

Zombie. The words felt funny. Hinata felt like he was in a horrible, horrible dream he willed himself to wake up. However, it wasn’t a dream. It was reality, it’s their reality and they had to deal with it.

 

The Karasuno boys were glad they were saved, so of course they followed the adults and did what they were asked to do, but they were all worried about their families. Tanaka tried telling the person in charge that he had to go back to look for his sister, but the man just glared at him and said _nobody's going anywhere_ firmly.

 

In the end, they were brought to a camp near Tokyo. It seemed like the virus outbreak started somewhere in the rural area. There were tents and everything, it was almost as if there was a natural disaster and they were refugees. But it wasn’t a natural disaster, it was a zombie apocalypse and no one really knows what to do. If it was an earthquake, or even a tsunami, it would be a bit more reassuring because those are the things that they have dealt with before. But this, this is foreign. They were told to stay in a medium-sized tent. There were 10 of them, so it was a little bit cramped but they could fit. It was still better than being outside, where people were scattering all over, adults panicking, children crying, people shouting the names of their families desperately. The authorities tried to tell everyone to get into their assigned tents so that they could start gathering data on everyone who survived so that it would be easier for them to look for their families. Tanaka, Nishinoya and Asahi was about to join the people who were shouting for their families, fortunately Daichi and Sugawara was there to calm them, so the crows ended up in the cramped tent.

 

Most of them tried to reach their families with their phones—except Hinata because his phone’s dead, he had forgotten to charge it—however none of them succeed. Hinata ended up borrowing Tsukishima’s phone to ring his house and his parents’ phones, but no one answered. None of their families was picking up, and everyone were getting more and more anxious as time passed.

 

“Daichi.” Sugaa whispered to Daichi, who was sitting behind him, face worried just like his other teammates. “This.. this is really happening?”

 

Daichi wished he could’ve laughed and said “of course not, you silly. Zombies aren't real!” but he couldn’t. Because it was real. So he just shook his head slightly and patted Sugawara’s back.

 

“Our.. Our families. Do you think...” Sugawara couldn’t say what he wanted to say, because it seemed too far-fetched. His mouth tasted bitter and his throat felt tight. There’s no way his family is.. gone. He was just with them this morning, eating breakfast while chattering cheerfully.

 

“I don’t know, Suga.” Daichi whispered honestly. “But we’re here, we’re safe. And.. and we have each other.” He looked at his teammates, who looked really tense. They had never looked that tense, even when they were going to have a match with Shiratorizawa. Yamaguchi and Asahi were in the verge of tears, Nishinoya, Tanaka and Hinata were unbelievably quiet. Ennoshita was bitting his lips, while Kageyama was glaring at his phone as if it was its fault his family wasn’t picking up. Tsukishima’s eyes were closed, but he could see that the tall blonde was in deep thoughts.

 

Daichi felt on edge, too. He was worried and scared, everything felt like a bad dream he wanted to cry. But he couldn’t because he was the captain and he knew that if he breaks, his teammates would too. Daichi knew Sugawara felt the same, as he was the vice-captain. He was aware that that’s just in volley, but it was always more than that. Karasuno was never just a volleyball team, they were his second family too. So Daichi grabbed Sugawara’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, silently asking him to be strong with him. For themselves, and for their teammates. Sugawara squeezed back and they sat in silence.

 

“Sugawara-senpai..” Yamaguchi’s voice startled them. “W-what are we going to do?” he asked, his voice trembled. He was already crying. Everyone turned to them.

 

Suga opened his mouth to soothe his kouhai, his teammates, but nothing came out. What are they going to do, indeed? How was he supposed to know? He himself was _barely_ holding up, what if—

 

“We’re going to stick together.” Daichi said, voice calm. His hand remained holding Sugawara’s; warm, comforting. “For as long as we have each other, we will be fine.”

 

Everyone started getting teary-eyed. Even Kageyama felt his eyes stinging, and he finally stopped glaring at his phone. Everyone was scared and worried, but everyone understood—even the dumbasses. They all understood that their families might not have made it, and they understood that everything was going to change.  
  
But Daichi’s words made them realize that they have each other, and if everything was going to change, one thing was going to stay the same.

 

They are still teammates, they are a family, and they have each other.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter 3! Hope you like it! :>  
> Thanks for the kudos and comments!! <3

It's been two weeks since everything happened. No one was able to contact their families—or anyone else if that matters. It was almost as if everyone lost their phone on the day it happened. On their third day in the camp, there wasn’t any service at all, and on the fourth day all their phone's battery and powerbanks were out of juice. They were still living in the tent and there wasn't any place to charge their phones, there wasn't any service anyways so they just accepted it all bitterly. There were some government workers that came to their tent on the second day, asking what their names are and how old they were, and basically some basic information for the sake of data. 

 

Tanaka kept asking the workers whether they had seen his sister, Saeko. No one had seen her, of course. The mall the boys went to was quite far from their school and houses. Hinata didn’t even ask the worker about his family because he realised how far his house was from the mall, and if his friends’ families were nowhere to be found there, the possibility of his family to be there is quite small.

 

“Don’t worry.” The worker that came to get their data told them, offering them a reassuring smile. Tanaka was trying not to cry. He was regretting the fact that he fought with his sister before he went to meet the others in the mall. “This isn’t the only city that was saved. I’m quite certain that there are other cities, other camps. Your families are most likely to be in the other cities, so don’t lose hope.”

 

The words gave them hope; even if they still couldn’t meet them, they were hoping that their families made it.

 

Life in the camp was.. complicated. They had to queue for food every single time they were going to eat. Not to mention the public bath, they had to queue for bath too because there were too many people. 

 

Everything had changed. It was almost as if they were sucked into a new world, and they weren’t able to get out of it. Nobody had the nerve to complain because they were all just glad that they were still alive. There were a lot of people in the camp, but they hadn't met anyone they know. It was a little bit unsettling, even if nobody said so. It was probably because they all spent their time together, they’d eat together and go to the public baths together, and when they’ve got nothing to do they’d spend their time together—either in the tent or somewhere in the camping site.

 

Everything happened in a blink of an eye. Suddenly there was a tall electric fence built around the area, fortunately it was enough to keep those zombies out. And now, they’re building a wall behind the fence so that people wouldn’t have to see the horrors. The camp were located quite a distance from the fence though, probably to make sure that people wouldn’t have to see the things outside of the tent. There were workers everywhere, keeping watch near the fences. The area itself wasn't too big, it wasn't too small either. It was like a small city. There were houses and buildings, but the government workers had asked everyone to live in the camp temporarily so that they can organize everything first. 

 

On the seventh day, some people were moved into the other end of the area. There was an apartment building, and around 300 people were moved there; mostly old people, children and women. The crows weren't included, so they still had to live in the tents. They don't really mind, because they got to be together. Because some people were moved, queuing for baths and foods became more bearable. It didn't take as long anymore. 

 

Sometimes they were asked to help around too. Cleaning things, distributing food and water, even some field works. 

 

Yamaguchi got sick on their eighth day. He caught a fever. Kageyama kept him company most of the time, the other boys queued for their foods and brought it to them. Everyone had their share of nightmare, but Yamaguchi seemed to be getting more. He'd toss and turn in his sleep, causing everyone to wake up because well, the tent wasn't big and they were sleeping in sleeping bags, not bunks. Everyone was getting more and more anxious. They had tried to ask for a doctor to come, but Yamaguchi wasn't sick enough to get a doctor'. So instead they asked for medicine, and the workers promised them medicine. However, it didn't came until their tenth day, and Kageyama seemed like he was starting to feel sick. He had been with Yamaguchi all the time, taking care of his boyfriend. 

 

"I'm fine." Kageyama said gruffly when Daichi told him to get some rest, refusing to leave his boyfriend's side. Kageyama was sitting beside him, holding his hand. It was nighttime, and Yamaguchi was sleeping peacefully. 

 

"It will be fine, Kageyama. I'll be watching him." Daichi said. "You need some rest too. You wouldn't be able to take care of Yamaguchi if you're sick."

 

Kageyama opened his mouth to say something, but Daichi was faster. "No buts. You go to sleep, and I'll wake you up early in the morning so that I can get some sleep too. The faster you sleep, the faster I'll wake you up."

 

Kageyama sighed and gave him a slight nod. He then went to sleep beside Hinata, who was sleeping beside Tsukishima. They were not sleeping inside their sleeping bags because that night was pretty hot, even though it was almost the end of summer. The nights were usually pretty cold but that night seemed to be an exception.

 

Yamaguchi ended up recovering pretty fast after getting the medicine, and Kageyama didn't end up being sick. 

 

It was their second week and they had just finished queuing for food. They went and sat under a huge tree to eat together. They ate while occasionally joking with each other. They were trying to act normally as if all of this didn't happen, but of course everyone was still feeling gloomy. 

 

They had just finished eating when a worker approached them. 

 

"We need all of you to gather around on the field." He said, offering them a small smile. "There's a little announcement."

 

Daichi nodded and thanked him, and he then led them to the field. 

 

"Maybe we'll finally get a place to stay. A real place!" Nishinoya said. 

 

"That'd be great Noya-san!!" Tanaka replied. 

 

"Would we still be together though?" Yamaguchi asked nervously. 

 

"I don't want us to be separated!" Hinata cried. 

 

Daichi sighed and exchanged a look with Sugawara. To be honest, they had talked about this before. Of course, they'd prefer to live in an apartment or a building, but now that they only had each other, they don't want to be separated. But of course, they didn't have a say in that. 

 

"Of course not." Sugawara tried to calm Hinata. "It'll be fine."

 

They arrived at the field, it was already filled with boys and girls; teenagers. Some of them were chatting with each other, but most of them looked confused and curious. 

 

Suddenly, they were asked to sit down. After they did, a tall man with brown hair went to stand in front of them, holding a megaphone. 

 

"Everyone be quiet." He talked using the megaphone. 

 

"Every boys and girls aged 14-20 are to gather here tomorrow morning at 8 AM sharp. Tardiness will not be tolerated. If there is anyone who cannot come because of something, please inform the workers before tomorrow." 

 

"That's all. You are dismissed." He bowed and ended his announcement.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! here's another chapter, I hope you guys like it!  
> let me know what you think :>

They gathered at 7:45 am, thanks to Daichi and Suga. They were not that early, there were a lot of people who were there before them.

 

“Kei.” Hinata nudged Tsukishima gently. “What do you think is going to happen?” He asked warily. Tsukishima can see how worried his boyfriend was, and to be honest, he himself share the same feelings. However, Tsukishima knew that worrying wouldn’t get them anywhere, so he gave his boyfriend a reassuring smile.

 

“I don’t know. But don’t worry, Shou. It’s probably just an announcement or something.” He said, not believing his own words.

 

“Right.” Hinata nodded. “We’ll stay together, right?”

 

Surprised at the sudden question, Tsukishima raised his eyebrows. “Of course.”

 

Right on time, the brown-haired man who announced that they had to gather here this morning appeared. He talked, using the megaphone again.

 

“Everyone, be quiet.” He said calmly. All the boys stared at him warily. “We are going to run some tests today. Nothing big, just some tests to determine your physical and mental ability, just for the sake of data.” He reassured. Everyone visibly relaxed. “Please stay quiet and listen to what the workers say, they are going to divide you into groups based on your age. Listen to what they say and follow their instructions, and it will all be over in a blink of an eye.”

 

Hinata relaxed because he thought he’d be with Tsukishima, but he remembered that it was only July, which means Tsukishima, Kageyama and Yamaguchi haven’t had their birthdays, so he wouldn’t be in the same group with Tsukishima.

 

Tsukishima seemed to have realized this before his boyfriend did. “It’ll be fine.” He ruffled Hinata’s hair. “You’ll be with the second years.”

 

“Okay.” Hinata grinned when he realized that he would be with his senpais. “I’ll see you later.”

 

* * *

 

Hinata ended up being in the same group with Ennoshita and Nishinoya. Tanaka already had his birthday, so he wasn’t in the same group with them. Hinata was relieved that he was with his senpais. He had looked around, searching for faces he’d recognize but he didn’t find any. He hadn’t found anyone he recognize after weeks in this camp though, so it was not surprising. It was always relieving to have his teammates with him, at least he wouldn’t be alone.

 

They were led to a building. When they were inside, Hinata was surprised because there was a huge room that looked like a gym. It was almost as if they were having a sudden sports lesson. The woman who led them there was in her forties, Hinata guessed. She had a gentle smile and dark-brown hair, and her voice was very comforting.

In the end, it was almost like they were having sports lesson. Their stamina, flexibility, strength and reflexes were tested. It was fun for Hinata, it felt like everything was okay and there was no zombie apocalypse happening. He’d go home and find Natsu and his mother in his house, welcoming him home. But of course, that is just wistful thinking on his part.

 

“Feels great.” Ennoshita was suddenly beside him, smiling. “We haven’t done anything like this in a while.”

 

“Yeah, it does feel great.” Hinata grinned at his senpai. Nishinoya was in the other side of the room, chatting with a tall, bald man that looked like Tanaka from afar. He was going to tell Ennoshita how much he missed volley, but he didn’t get the chance.

 

“Gather around!” The woman called to them. “Good job everyone. Now you’re one step closer to the end of the tests.” She smiled. “Form a line, please, and follow me.”

 

The boys and girls formed a line, Nishinoya bounced to them and stood behind Ennoshita and in front of Hinata. The lady waited while they formed a line, and then gestured them to follow her. She led her to a hallway with a lot of doors, and then one by one they were called to go into the room. One kid for every room.

 

“Noya-senpai?” Hinata called. He gulped nervously thinking about being in a room without his senpais. “Why hasn’t anyone who was called come back?”

 

They noticed that after some minutes, another kid would be called, and then another, but the one who was called previously never came out of the door.

 

“Um..” Nishinoya tried to think of a reason, but he doesn’t know.

 

“They must have had a backdoor.” Ennoshita turned to them and smiled. “Don’t worry, Hinata. We’ll wait for you outside if we’re done first.”

 

“Oh, right. A backdoor.” Ennoshita’s explanation calmed him. He knew he shouldn’t worry, but he had always been with someone—one of his teammate—ever since the whole zombie thing happened. It was just a little bit unsettling.

 

They waited for their turn, chatting quietly, wondering what they would get for dinner. The food isn’t that bad here, but Hinata missed pork buns. He wondered what had happened to Ukai and Takeda, Kinoshita and Narita, Yachi and Kiyoko-san, and of course, everyone from his school.

 

It was suddenly Ennoshita’s turn, he slightly waved to Hinata before entering the door. Hinata was going to say something to Nishinoya, but it was suddenly Nishinoya’s turn.

 

“I’ll see you later, Shouyou.” Nishinoya went inside the door beside Ennoshita’s.

 

Hinata didn’t even have to wait for a minute before he was called to go into the door in the end of the hallway, three doors away from Ennoshita’s door. Hinata went inside. He closed the door behind him and he saw a small, white room. There was a desk in the center, and a women sitting on the chair. She smiled and gestured him to sit in front of her, just accross the table.

 

“Hello.” She said warmly. She had a pen in her hand, and she was holding a clipboard. “Can you introduce yourself?”

 

“I-i’m Hinata. Hinata Shouyou.”

 

“Hinata-kun.” She smiled and wrote something. “No need to be nervous. I’m just going to ask some questions, and you just need to answer them, alright?”

 

Hinata nodded and prayed that none of the questions are in english.

 

* * *

 

“Shouyou!” Nishinoya called to him. Ennoshita was right, there was a backdoor in the room so he didn’t have to go out through the hallway. The door lead to a small park. Ennoshita and Nishinoya was waiting for him there. There was barely any people in the park.

 

“You took long.” Ennoshita gave him a small smile. “Noya’s was long too.” He added.

 

“How about you, Ennoshita-senpai?”

 

“Mine was only for like, five minutes.” Ennoshita said.

 

“Must have been because you’re smart, senpai!” Hinata concluded.

 

“Oi, Shouyou! Are you implying that I’m not smart?” Nishinoya asked.

 

“No! But, like, Ennoshita-senpai is smarter than us.” Hinata tried to defend himself. Ennoshita laughed.

 

“Right, right. Let’s go back, guys. The sun is setting already.” He reminded his teammates. Upon hearing that, Hinata and Nishinoya realized that their test might have taken much longer than it felt like.

 

“Did we really take that long, senpai?” Hinata frowned, confused. It didn’t feel that long.

 

“It doesn’t matter.” Ennoshita gave him a reassuring smile. They were walking back towards their tents. They took around 10 minutes, thankfully there were signs and arrows, showing them where to go. When their tent was in sight, they could see their other teammates.

 

“They’re here!” Yamaguchi announced, and all heads turned to them.

 

“You guys took long.” Sugawara jogged to meet them, he looked a little bit worried.

 

“What were you doing?” Daichi frowned.

 

Hinata titled his head, confused. “We were just done with our test. Right, Nishinoya-senpai, Ennoshita-senpai?”

 

“Yeah.” Ennoshita confirmed. “Well, technically, Hinata and Noya were just finished with their test. I was done long before they were.” He added.

 

“How long was it?” Sugawara sounded interested.

 

“I don’t really know, Suga-san, sorry. I’ve got no watch, but everyone was already done with theirs, I think. I was waiting for them because we promised we’ll wait for each other.”

 

“Right then. Now that we’re all here, let’s go for a bath.” Daichi said.

 

 

* * *

 

 

“Excuse me.” They heard a voice from outside of their tent. It was three days after the whole ‘test for the sake of data’ thing. Daichi went out to greet whoever was coming to their tent at this hour. They have just finished dinner an hour ago, and they were sitting around and chatting with each other. He found a government worker in his uniform, holding a clipboard in his hand.

 

“Yes?” Daichi asked.

 

“Is there a Nishinoya Yuu and Hinata Shouyou in here?” the worker asked.

 

“Oh, yeah.” Daichi was confused, but he called for his teammates. “Nishinoya, Hinata! Come here for a bit!”

 

Nishinoya came out of the tent, followed closely by Hinata. They eyed the worker questioningly.

 

“Nishinoya-san, Hinata-san.” The worker nodded at them. “Your attendance is required at the City Hall tomorrow morning. A worker will come here to escort you at 9 AM, so please be ready by then.”

 

Hinata and Nishinoya seemed startled by the news. Daichi frowned, what’s happening?

 

“I’m sorry, but why are they summoned to the city hall?” Daichi asked carefully.

 

The worker looked at him and offered a smile. “There will be some announcement.” He answered simply. “That’s all I came to say. Please be ready by 9, Nishinoya-san, Hinata-san.” He bowed at them and they bowed back, and then he went away.

 

Hinata and Nishinoya looked at each other in confusion. Daichi sighed.

 

“Did you guys get into trouble or something?” He asked his short teammates.

 

“No we didn’t!” Nishinoya tried not to sound offended. He didn’t do anything after all, so why would he and Shouyou get summoned to the hall?

 

“I don’t think we did.” Hinata added warily. “Do you think they’re going to punish us?”

 

“Of course not, Shouyou! We didn’t do anything!” Nishinoya tried to calm his kouhai.

 

Daichi tried to think of a reason. Why would Nishinoya and Hinata—only Nishinoya and Hinata—get summoned to the city hall? He couldn’t think of anything but trouble. Maybe they did something without noticing it? Daichi doubted that his teammates are that stupid and reckless, but he couldn’t think of any other reason.

 

“It will be fine.” He finally said. “Maybe they just want to tell you something.” He added uncertainly. “Let’s go back in.”

 

He went inside of their tent, followed by the two short boys who are now worried.

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Here's the next chapter.  
> I got pretty excited while writing this story, I think I'm updating too fast this time but oh well. xD  
> Anyways, let me know what you think about this in the comments! <3

"Who was it?" Sugawara asked curiously the moment the three of them stepped into the tent.

"It was a government worker." Daichi mumbled uncertainly. Nishinoya and Hinata stood behind him, staring at each others' eyes as if they were having a conversation silently.

"Well.. what did they want?" Sugawara asked again. Everyone except Nishinoya and Hinata--who was standing behind Daichi--turned to Daichi, sending him questioning looks.

"Uh.." Daichi scratched his head. "He wanted to talk to Nishinoya and Hinata."

At the mention of their names, both Nishinoya and Hinata turned to face their teammates.

"Um, I didn't do anything wrong!" Hinata defended himself. 

" _**We ** _ didn't do anything wrong!" Nishinoya corrected him. "For real! We didn't, Suga-san!" He added when he caught Sugawara throwing him a doubtful look.

"They just wanted to talk to them." Daichi sighed. "Both of them need to go to the city hall tomorrow."

"Wait, what? City hall? Why?"

"I don't know." Daichi answered honestly. "We'll just have to see."

Hinata went to Tsukishima, pouting. "Don't look at me like that, Stingyshima." He said. Tsukishima sighed. "I didn't do anything wrong!" Hinata tried to defend himself again.

"You better not." Tsukishima simply said.

 

* * *

 

It was early in the morning. Hinata felt someone shaking him, reluctantly, he opened his eyes. In front of him was Daichi's face.

"You need to wake up, Hinata. You and Nishinoya are going to the city hall, remember?"

Hinata let out a quiet groan, but pushed himself to sit down. He looked around. Everyone was still asleep. Hinata stifled a yawn and turned to look at a little clock that were given to them some days ago, because apparently none of them was wearing a watch on the day everything happened. It was 7.30 AM. 

Satisfied, Daichi turned to wake Nishinoya up, careful not to wake the rest of the boys. They don't really have anything to do today. On days like this, usually all of them would wake up around 9 or 9.30 AM, take a quick shower and then went to get some breakfast together.

Hinata turned to look at his boyfriend, who was still sleeping peacefully beside him in his own sleeping bag. His eyes were bare from glasses, and he looked adorable. Hinata leaned downand pecked Tsukishima's cheek carefully, afraid he'd wake him up. Thankfully, Tsukishima didn't even stir.

He then got out of his sleeping bag and went to take a quick shower with Nishinoya.

"Noya-senpai." Hinata called. They just finished taking a shower, both of them were fully clothed and were trying to dry their hairs off. They were dressed properly, since when everything happened they weren't carrying clothes with them, they had been wearing clothes that were given to them. The clothes were pretty random, but beggars can't choose. Nishinoya could find a proper shirt and a long black pants in his pile. Hinata, however, wasn't able to find any proper shirt, he only had t-shirts and some jackets. So he went to Daichi and asked whether he happen to had one. Thankfully, he did have one, but it was a little too big for Hinata.

"What is it, Shouyou?"

"They are not calling us to punish us, right? We didn't do anything after all." Hinata bit his lips.

"Of course not! I'm sure this is all just a misunderstanding or something! Don't worry!" Nishinoya declared confidently.

Seeing his senpai being so confident, Hinata felt a little bit relieved. "Right!"

Both of them went back to put their towels in their tent and bid Daichi--who looked like he'd fall asleep any second--goodbye. The man who were sent to escort them was already there, offering them a small smile.

The city hall wasn't close to the camping site, but it wasn't far from it either. They had to walk for 20 minutes in total.

The man who came to escort them was pretty tall, and he had a big buff body, so Hinata was nervous. He walked behind Nishinoya in silence, glancing around once in a while.

Nishinoya, too, was uncharacteristically silent. He wanted to ask the man questions--a lot of them--but he didn't know where to begin. He was also unsure of whether it was okay to ask questions or not, so they just walked in silence.

Surprisingly, it was the man who started the conversation.

"You look nervous." He said, slightly glancing back towards Hinata. Hinata, who was indeed very nervous, let out a surprised yelp.

The man chuckled. "Don't be." He turned to them and flashed a warm smile.

Hinata sighed in relief and Nishinoya saw green lights.

"Why do we have to go to the city hall?" He quickened his pace so that he could walk side-by-side with the tall man. Hinata followed his lead.

"There will be an announcement." The man answered.

"What announcement?" Hinata asked.

"You'll know soon enough." The man smiled. "We'll arrive soon."

He was right. They arrived not long after to the city hall. It was a huge building that looked like it had been a regular office before being used at the city hall. The city around it wasn't lively at all, there were barely people walking around, and Hinata realised that almost everyone he saw near the city hall was government workers.

When they went in, there were securities. The tall man showed his ID card. "Nakamura. Here with Nishinoya Yuu and Hinata Shouyou from Block B."

The security scanned the paper he was holding and nodded. "You can go in."

The tall man--Nakamura--flashed a smile and led Nishinoya and Hinata in. They went to the third floor by stairs, and then they were brought to a room.

"Wait here for the rest." Nakamura told them. Then, with a last warm smile, he disappeared.

The rest? Nishinoya wanted to ask, but Nakamura was already gone. Hinata and Nishinoya turned around to look at the room. There were chairs, and there were some boys and girls sitting there, there were 17 of them. There weren't many girls though, only 3 of them were girls. In front of the chairs, there was a podium.

Hinata and Nishinoya shared a look. Nishinoya shrugged.

"Come on, Shouyou. Let's just sit down."

Hinata nodded. They both approached the chairs nearest to them and sat down. Nishinoya was about to suggest to Hinata that they should introduce themselves to some of the boys and girls, but the door opened and several boys walked in.

"Japan!!" Hinata shouted.

There were around 15 boys who came in, and Hinata and Nishinoya was surprised to find some faces they could recognize.

"Hinata Shouyou." Ushijima said.

"Oh? What's this?" Kuroo was suddenly beside Ushijima. Behind them, Nishinoya and Hinata could spot some other faces, namely Bokuto, Iwaizumi, Aone, and Terushima Yuuji.

Iwaizumi nodded and Aone bowed slightly, while Terushima was saying  _ 'mini spiderman!' _

"You guys are here!" Nishinoya exclaimed. "How come we didn't see you?"

"You must have been on the other camps. There are camps all over the area." Kuroo answered while Bokuto gave Hinata a high-five. "Any idea why we're here?" Kuroo asked.

"Not a clue." Nishinoya grinned. "But we thought we were called because we made some troubles. Guess that's not the case."

"Hmm.. I wonder.."

"Gather around, everyone." Suddenly, there was a man on the podium. The boys stopped talking and went to sit down behind the other boys and girls, who were already seated.

The man on the podium cleared his throat. "Good morning, everyone. Thank you for being on time." He began. "I'm Nakajima Ken, nice to meet you all. You all must be wondering why you were asked to come here."

"I'm sure you remember the tests you had taken a few days ago here." He said, looking around. The boys nodded and waited for him to continue. "Well, this is regarding the results of the test." He smiled, but it was nothing like Nakamura-san's smile. Nakamura-san had a nice, warm smile. But Nakajima-san's smile was cold and business-like.

"I'm here to announce that all of you passed the test." He finally said.

The boys started to murmur. "Passed the test? Wasn't the test just for the sake of data?" Bokuto whispered to Kuroo. Kuroo shooked his head slowly, indicating that he was just as clueless as Bokuto. Iwaizumi frowned. Hinata turned to Nishinoya. "What does he mean, Noya-senpai?"

Nishinoya opened his mouth to answer, but the man started talking again.

"Yes, we did tell everyone that the test was just for the sake of data, but it wasn't." The man continued. "It was to determine which ones of you have the potential, which ones of you are... suitable."

"Suitable for what?" Hinata heard Ushijima asked. His voice was loud enough for the man to hear. The man turned to Ushijima and flashed his cold smile again.

"I have an offer for all of you."


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I'm back with another chapter.  
> Idk how many chapters I'm gonna make though, we'll see as it goes :")  
> Let me know what do you think!

Nishinoya and Hinata walked home in silence. Their minds were full of what the man had offered to them. It was getting darker, probably around 6 pm. Nakamura-san escorted them halfway to their campsite. They both knew the rest of the way so they could go home on their own.

"Hinata... what do you think about it?"

"I don't know. I'm not sure." Hinata answered glumly. "it's.. it's too.. Aren't you afraid?"

"...I am. But think about it. It's not a bad offer."

"I need time to think." Hinata said quietly.

They were given a week to consider the offer. Nishinoya already knew what his answer was going to be. Hinata on the other hand, was still unsure. It was a good offer, Just like his senpai said. But it was too risky, and he wanted some time to think it over. Hinata knew that if he didn't accept the offer, his senior wouldn't accept it either. It would have meant that they were going to get separated too after all.

They were both dreading the time they arrive, because they knew that their teammates were going to question them. They were not prohibited from telling their family; and their teammates are their family now. Hinata and Nishinoya had agreed that they would not tell their teammates about the offer because they know that they wouldn't let them accept it.

"Tadaima." Nishinoya said quietly when they finally arrived.

"Nishinoya, Hinata!" Sugawara smiled. The rest of the team turned to them and eyed them curiously.

"So?" Daichi asked.

"Um.."

"We can't tell you yet." Nishinoya said. "Right, Shouyou?" He turned to Hinata, asking him for help.

"O-oh! Yes! Right!" Too bad for Nishinoya that Hinata wasn't really a good liar, he'd have to train his kouhai later on.

Tsukishima eyed them skeptically, while Kageyama grunted. Yamaguchi tilted his head confusedly and Asahi just stared at them anxiously.

"Why?" Tanaka asked.

"Because it's not time. Yet." Nishinoya added. "We'll tell you later."

"But, why can't you j-" Tanaka tried but he was pulled away by Ennoshita.

"Noya said he'll tell us later, Tanaka."

Tanaka huffed but finally accepted. The rest of the team, especially Tsukishima and Asahi, wanted to know as much as Tanaka, but they decided better when they saw Daichi's face.

"It's dinner time, let's go." Daichi said firmly. No one dared to question Nishinoya and Hinata further, they had known each other long enough to know when they can get away from ignoring what Daichi said and when they cannot, and this was one of the times when they just cannot.

Hinata bounced to Tsukishima, grabbing his boyfriend's hand. "Kei! How was your day?" He asked gingerly.

"It was alright, very relaxing." Tsukishima held Hinata's hand back. "How about yours?"

Hinata looked like he wasn't expecting Tsukishima to ask that, which was a little bit dumb in Tsukishima's opinion, because of course he'd ask him back.

"Um.. eh, it was alright." Hinata tried to grin to hide his nervousness. He realized he was failing though, because if there's anything he understands well, it was the fact that he has an extremely smart and observant boyfriend.

Tsukishima just hummed in response, clearly not buying it.

Dinner went by in a blur. Nishinoya tried hard to be his usual, noisy self, talking excitedly about various things. Various things except the announcement he and Hinata had went to hear. As far as he was concerned, he wanted to accept the offer. He wouldn't if Hinata decline, but if their teammates had found out what exactly the offer is, it wouldn't matter what he and Hinata think because he knows that there's no way they'd let them accept it.

* * *

Two days after the secret 'announcement' Nishinoya and Hinata heard at the city hall, there was a surprise for Karasuno. It was a free day; they had been getting more free days after the test had ensued. Not that they were complaining, but Hinata would rather do something so that he could take off his mind from the offer for one second. Tsukishima had been trying to figure out what Hinata was hiding from himself and the rest of the team, but thankfully Nishinoya took notice on how bad Hinata was at lying, so he had helped him. A lot.

They had just eaten lunch and were hanging around in their tent. It was the end of summer, and the weather was getting colder. Fall was coming. There wasn't any heater yet. Sugawara think that it's because it was not cold enough yet.

Tsukishima, however, was wearing layers of t-shirts because that was all they had, he was sitting inside his sleeping bag to keep himself warmer. Tsukishima had always been sensitive to the cold, he gets cold easily. Seeing this, Hinata got quiet. Suddenly, he stood up.

"I'm going to get some fresh air." He said. Not waiting for an answer from anyone, he rushed outside.

Nishinoya was fast to follow. "I'm gonna make sure he's not getting into any trouble." He exclaimed before running after his kouhai. The rest of the boys just looked at each other confusedly.

"They have been acting strangely, haven't they?" Asahi asked, but it wasn't really a question. "Do you think it's got anything to do with the city hall announcement?"

Hearing this, everyone went silent. They all had their own doubts, and they were very curious, but they knew that forcing them to answer was not right. Even Asahi had made a poor attempt to fish something out from Nishinoya, which was a complete failure.

"I don't know, Asahi." Daichi sighed. "But Noya said that he'd tell us later, so I think we should trust them and wait until they tell us."

Kageyama frowned. He wanted to grip Hinata's head and just force the answer out from his partner, but he knew nobody would approve. Plus, he'd have to get through Nishinoya first.

"Um, excuse me?" Suddenly, there was a voice calling from outside the tent.

"Yes!" Daichi stood up to greet whoever was calling. The voice was strangely familiar, though; it made him wonder. He didn't have to wonder for long because the answer was there when he went out.

"Huh?!" Daichi was surprised to see Kuroo in front of their tent, standing with that lazy smirk of his.

"Yo." Kuroo greeted.

Sugawara's head popped out, probably to see what surprised Daichi. "Kuroo!" he exclaimed. Sugawara's exclamation startled the other boys and in no time, everyone was struggling to get out of the tent.

"Damned crows." Kuroo muttered under his breath and grinned.

"You're here! Why are you here? You're alive!" Tanaka was shouting.

"Clearly." Kuroo's grin got wider. "I take it that chibi-chan and Nishinoya didn't tell you that they met us?"

"They didn't." Daichi felt a sudden urge to drag his short teammates and force them to tell whatever had happened that day. "Well, let's just talk inside. It's a bit warmer, and we can all sit down."

He went inside, followed by the other boys. After everyone was settled, Sugawara turned to Kuroo.

"So you met Noya and Hinata?" He asked.

Kuroo chuckled. "Yeah, I did."

"Was it when they were summoned to the city hall?"

"Yep."

"So you heard the announcement too?" Tanaka asked eagerly. Ennoshita elbowed him.

"I did." Kuroo said. "Don't bother asking me what it's about, though. If anything, it's totally up to chibi-chan and Nishinoya whether they are going to tell you or not, or when they are going to tell you or not."

Tsukishima clicked his tongue.

"Tsukki! Didn't see you there!" Kuroo smirked. The tall blonde just rolled his eyes.

"So.. how did you get here, then? What happened to you.. that day?" Daichi asked carefully.

"I was hanging out with Kenma, Inuoka and Yaku. I don't know, everything was just, chaotic and before I realised what was going on, there were workers everywhere and we were evacuated. My campsite is on the other side of the town." Kuroo explained. "Still don't know what happened to the rest of the team, my parents, or anyone besides Kenma, Inuoka and Yaku, really. They're here with me."

"When we arrived, we didn't think that we'd find anyone we know, but we were wrong." he grinned. "Bokuto's here too. With Akaashi, Yukie, Wataru and Yamato. Iwaizumi, Oikawa and Kyotani, too. Oh, and also Ushijima and Tendou. Terushima Yuuji from Johzenji is here, too, with his family. Aone from Date Tech is here too, with Futakuchi and Moniwa. Chibi-chan and Nishinoya met some of them too."

Hearing his story, Tanaka couldn't believe that Nishinoya and Hinata didn't mention meeting Kuroo and the others. "They didn't tell us anything!"

"They probably forgot." Kuroo smiled. "So, anyways, I came here to meet them. Got something to talk about. Any idea where they are?"

"Um, not really. But Hinata went outside to get some fresh air just before you arrived, and then Nishinoya-senpai followed him." Yamaguchi answered.

Kuroo stood up. "Alright, then. I'll just look around for them." He said. "I'll see you guys around." He grinned and waved before going outside.

* * *

Kuroo found Hinata and Nishinoya sitting under a tree, quite far from their tent. It was quite deserted too, good thinking on their part. He approached them, hands inside his pockets. They were just sitting, but Kuroo could see from afar that they were having a quiet conversation.

"Kuroo-san!" Hinata spotted him first.

"Yo, chibi-chan." he smiled and sat in front of them.

"What brings you here?" Nishinoya asked curiously.

"Well, I'm not here to pressure you guys or anything. I just thought that you guys might want to know." Kuroo started carefully, his face was serious, with no trace of the symbolic smirk he usually has. "Bokuto, Ushijima, Aone, Terushima and I have decided that we would be accepting the offer." he finally said.

That startled both Nishinoya and Hinata.

"I see." Hinata mumbled. Nishinoya didn't say anything.

"No one is pressuring you, Hinata. It's only been two days, you still have five more days to think about it." he tried to comfort his kouhai.

"No." Hinata blurted out. "No.. I.. I'm going to accept it too." Nishinoya opened his mouth to ask Hinata to calm down, because he could clearly see that his kouhai was scared of accepting the offer before. "Not because anyone or anything's pressuring me, really." Hinata reassured him. "But.. I've been thinking. You know, when Yamaguchi got sick, it was hard to get a medicine, and he wasn't sick enough to get the attention of a doctor. It's.. we're lucky it was just common cold. What if it's something worse next time?"

When neither Nishinoya nor Kuroo said anything, Hinata continued. "And.. it's almost autumn. It's getting colder. Kei's sensitive to cold. I can't imagine living in the tent in autumn, much less in winter." He said. "Plus.." he finally looked directly at Nishinoya. "We all get to be together. Captain said it, we're sticking together."

When Nishinoya saw determination in Hinata's eyes, he didn't know what to say. So, he turned to Kuroo instead.

"Will you tell Kenma and everyone else about this?" he asked.

"Of course not. I reckon it's the same with the others." Kuroo answered.

"What are we going to tell them, then? We have to think of something, we must create like, the perfect lie. And it has to be the same with everyone, or else they will find out!"

"I don't know yet, but you're right. We should discuss that, sooner or later." Kuroo agreed. "Let's discuss that on the big day with the others. After all, we have to go to the city hall again." he continued. "I don't think anyone who's going to accept are going to tell their families and friends about the offer."

Nishinoya and Hinata nodded.

"Well." Kuroo pushed himself up and stood. "I'd better be going. I have quite a long walk back home." he smiled. "See ya."

Nishoya and Hinata stared at Kuroo's back until they cannot see him anymore. The sun was setting, it was getting darker. The day was getting shorter. Hinata was looking at the sky solemnly. Nishinoya examined his kouhai. True, he could see the determination in Hinata's eyes, but he could also see that Hinata was still worried, anxious.

"Don't worry too much, Shouyou!" Nishinoya put his arm around Hinata's shoulder. "You'll be fine, we'll be fine. You don't need to worry because you're with your senpai!" he smiled confidently.

Hinata smiled brightly at him. "Right!"


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Sorry for the slow updates, but I'm back with a pretty long chapter.  
> It's not that long, but it's longer than usual, i guess?  
> so that's something xD
> 
> Hope you guys like it! Pls leave comments and kudos, i love em :3

It was the big day, the day they were supposed to go to the city hall one more time to let them know their answer. Hinata had no trouble waking up, he was nervous. He sat up and glanced towards Nishinoya. His senpai was already awake, too. Seeing Hinata looking at him, he nodded and signalled him to go outside. 

 

Hinata grabbed his towel and his outfit for today, which was the one he wore last week. They took a shower and got ready quietly, both of them were deep in thoughts—which might surprise their teammates, if they're there with them. Fortunately, they were not. 

 

They went back to the tent when they were done, wanting to check if anyone was already awake. However, no one was awake, which wasn't surprising since it was 6 am in the morning. For some reasons, they were required to be there earlier this time. 

 

Nishinoya shrugged. "Well, we told them already anyway. Let's just go." He said. Hinata nodded, and they departed.

 

They walked in silence, heading towards the park they agreed to meet Nakamura-san at.

 

"Shou--"

 

"It's fine, Noya-san." Hinata turned to him and smiled, not giving Nishinoya a chance to finish his sentence. "I made up my mind already. I'm sure." 

 

In the past few days, Nishinoya had been asking Hinata if he was sure. Hinata understood, it wasn't that his senpai didn't agree; he knew he was delighted. But Nishinoya worried that he pushed Hinata to agree, which was something he definitely didn't want. Even if Hinata ended up not wanting to accept the offer, Nishinoya would gladly decline it along with him; and they'd find another way to stick together. But now, seeing determination in his kouhai's eyes, he knew that he had—in fact—made his mind about this. So Nishinoya nodded and they continued their journey in silence. 

 

* * *

 

"Alright, now that everyone's here." Nakajima-san said. "Those who have decided to decline the offer, please stand up and follow Okamoto-san there." A short man raised his arm, indicating that he's Okamoto-san. 

 

Hinata thought that he was the only coward, but perhaps he was wrong. A lot of the boys followed Okamoto-san outside. Only one of three girls stayed. Good thing none of the people he knew stood and left; that would have made him even more nervous. He looked around and realised that he was the only first year. 

 

"Well, then. Now that only those who are accepting the offer are here... Perhaps I should start by welcoming you." Nakajima-san smiled. Hinata didn't like his smile, not at all. "Welcome to the Ghost Team." 

 

"Ghost team?" Ushijima questioned loudly. Hinata wondered how the huge man managed to stay that relaxed. 

 

"Yes. Because you technically don't exist." Nakajima-san was still smiling. 

 

"What do you mean?" Terushima frowned. "You said we were allowed to discuss this with our families."

 

"Well, yes. Only with your families, if you choose to." He answered patiently. "Today, you'll have to sign a contract in which you are agreeing to keep this a secret from the rest of the society members, except your families. And your families have to keep this a secret too if you choose to tell them." He explained. "However, I think not many of you decided to do that." His smile got wider. 

 

Hinata wondered if Nakajima-san wasn't tired, talking while smiling all the time seemed tiring. Especially when there was nothing to be _that_ happy about. 

 

"Well then. Let us discuss your schedule." 

 

* * *

 

Before they were dismissed, Terushima had told them that he told his family about it already. Hinata was surprised his family let him do it. 

 

"They didn't." Terushima grinned and ruffled Hinata’s hair when he asked him. "But I told them I'm doing it anyway, so they can live in comfort and fight me, or they can live in comfort and love me. Thankfully, they chose the latter."

 

Other than Terushima, there was only another boy who told his family, a boy called Mishimiya Ryousuke. 

 

After discussing it with Nakamura-san and some other workers, they decided that they were going to keep their job a secret. They were going to tell their families that they were indeed getting a job offer from the government, but they wouldn’t tell them that the job is to go out there and face the... zombies when necessary.

 

Nakamura-san insisted that they should tell them the truth, though, but the idea was immediately rejected by the majority of them. Hinata sighed in relief. True, lying is pretty troublesome and he's afraid he might slip up, but he couldn't imagine telling his teammates about this. 

 

* * *

 

"Tadaima!" 

 

The moment they went inside, they were greeted by a loud Tanaka. 

 

"So you're finally going to tell us what's going on?" He prompted. Nishinoya nodded. 

 

"Sure, Ryu." He grinned. 

 

"Well?" Daichi asked. 

 

"We got a job!" Hinata exclaimed happily. 

 

The tent was silent for a few second. "Wait, _what_?"

 

"We got a job!" Hinata repeated as if saying it again would make things understandable to his teammates. 

 

Thankfully, Nishinoya took over. "When we were summoned, the government offered us a job." Nishinoya started. "We didn't want to tell you at first because we weren't sure about it yet."

 

"What kind of job? "

 

"Why did they choose both of you?"

 

"What do you mean they offered you a job?"

 

"Why didn't you just tell us? You didn't need to hide this." Tsukishima frowned. He eyed his boyfriend suspiciously. 

 

"We weren't sure whether we're going to accept it or not." Nishinoya said. "Because... the job is.. pretty tiring, it takes up time." He continued. "Because of that, we won't be able to.. well, this is technically still a secret but they said we can tell you because you're our family." 

 

"What is it?" Sugawara frowned, he didn't like where this was going. 

 

"We won’t be able to continue our education like you guys." Nishinoya finished. "Yes, there will be school and classes." He added before anyone asked. 

 

"But it's fine!" Hinata grinned and reassured them. "I don't really like studying, anyway!"

 

"Wait a minute." Daichi cut in. "Explain from the beginning."

 

Nishinoya gave Hinata a look before he explained everything. He explained how the 'tests for the sake of data' weren't just for data, and that they were recruited because of the results. He explained how in two week's time, the government will explain everything about how education works here. They will still have school until they finished high school, but the hours would be significantly shorter and there will be new lessons and classes (such as the Basic Survivals lesson). 

 

"What kind of job is this, precisely?" Daichi asked. 

 

"Can't say, but it's nothing that important. You know me and Shouyou are not exactly smart." Nishinoya chuckled. "Anyways!! There is a great news!" He tried to change the topic because he was sure that they were getting suspicious. 

 

At the mention of great news, Hinata jumped. "We get to stay together!" He exclaimed. 

 

Nishinoya grinned. "Right. That's the perks. We will be living in a house together, and we get some kind of health insurances."

 

"So we won't be cold anymore! And if someone ever gets sick again we'll get medicines and maybe even doctors!!" Hinata continued. 

 

Everyone was startled by the news; even Daichi was lost for words. He and Sugawara had talked about this when they were not with their teammates. They were worried they wouldn't be able to stay together when they finally get to live in an apartment or something. To be honest, Daichi couldn't think not being with his teammates; they are now his family. He was sure Sugawara felt the same. "Government workers get those kind of perks?"

 

"Yes. Well, they'll be working us hard though, like they said we would have to stay there some days and we wouldn't be able to go home. But normally we have to be there at 7 am and we'll be dismissed at 8 pm, which means we work for more than 12 hours everyday. But it's fine, right, Shouyou?" Nishinoya asked. 

 

"Right!" Hinata gave him his thumbs up. 

 

They were not lying about the education thingy, it was true, and after Nakamura-san told them about it, Kuroo intelligently suggested it to be the reason why Hinata and Nishinoya didn’t want to tell their teammates yet. Which is a pretty great idea, if both Hinata and Nishinoya weren’t so ignorant about their education.

 

Tsukishima was still eyeing them suspiciously, so was Sugawara, but he looked worried more than anything. Tanaka was happy to hear the news, he was grinning widely and telling Nishinoya and Hinata about how cool they are. Daichi sighed, something felt off. He was definitely going to question his teammates further later on.

 

* * *

 

“Daichi-san is quite perceptive, isn’t he?” Hinata jogged beside Nishinoya. It was the next day, around 6 am in the morning and they were already on their way to the city hall. Nakamura-san told them yesterday that today, they would be given explanation—like, _a lot_ of them—about... everything, really.

 

“Yeah, he is.” Nishinoya agreed. Yesterday, Daichi had asked them to walk with him after dinner and questioned them about the job they were offered. Nishinoya could tell that their captain was feeling suspicious; fortunately he managed to answer his questions without stuttering or something (if Nishinoya stutters, Daichi will definitely think that something is wrong because Nishinoya _doesn’t_ stutter).

 

“Kei is enough trouble already.” Hinata frowned. His boyfriend kept asking him questions, too.

 

Nishinoya hummed in agreement. “Yeah. We’ll just have to be careful.”

 

When they arrived at the city hall, they found Nakamura-san in the lobby. He was talking to one of the staffs. He smiled and waved at them when he spotted them.

 

“Good morning, Nakamura-san!” Hinata greeted.

 

“Good morning.” Nakamura-san replied. “You guys need to go to the fourth floor, some of the others are there already.” He told them. “I’ll see you after lunch break.”

 

Hinata and Nishinoya proceeded to go to the fourth floor, using the stairs, of course. That was another thing that was different now. Apparently, the electric fence that was surrounding the city takes a lot of electricity, which is why the ‘unnecessary use of electricity’ will not be permitted. So no elevator for them.

 

When they arrived, Ushijima and Aone was already there, sitting side by side in silence. Hinata and Nishinoya approached them. Hinata went to sit down beside Aone.

 

“Good morning!” He greeted cheerfully.

  
Aone turned to him and slightly bowed his head. Nishinoya sat beside Hinata. There were several other boys whom Nishinoya didn’t know the name. Nishinoya heard the door open and turned to see a boy walking in alone. He looked around, spotted Nishinoya looking at him, and smiled widely. The boy approached Nishinoya and offered his hand.

 

“Hello!” He greeted. “I’m Ikami! Ikami Reon!” He introduced himself. Even though Nishinoya didn’t know this boy, he had a feeling that they were going to get along just fine. Nishinoya shook his hand.

 

“I’m Nishinoya Yuu.” He grinned.

 

“Oh? Hello!” Hinata, who was having a one-sided conversation with Aone, suddenly turned to face them. He grabbed Reon’s hand and shook it aggressively. “I’m Hinata Shouyou! Nice to meet you!”

 

Good thing Reon was more like Hinata. If he were someone like Tsukishima, he would have been annoyed at Hinata. Instead, Reon grinned and shook Hinata’s hand.

 

“Shouyou!” He exclaimed.

 

Hinata nodded. “Sit with us, Reon!”

 

And with that, they boy who came alone now have friends.

 

* * *

 

This time, it wasn’t Nakamura-san or Nakajima-san who was standing in front of them, it was the woman that tested Hinata in the little white room. Hinata almost yelped when he saw her and she sent him a warm smile and nodded, indicating that she still remembered him.

 

“Good morning, everyone.” He greeted them. “My name is Tawada Arisa. Today, I’ll explain to you about what exactly have you gotten yourself into.” She smiled. “As Nakajima-san mentioned the other day, you are now the member of the Ghost Team.”

 

“You’re called the Ghost Team because you don’t exist; what I mean is none of the civilians are to know about your existence, except those who are directly influenced by it—such as your family. I’m sure you understand everything about the secrecy of this job as we have explained it all to you yesterday.” She said. “So today, we are going to talk about different matters.”

 

“Some of you might wonder, why were you chosen? Why did you pass the test?” She prompted. “Well, even though we have a standard, the deciding factor is relatively different for each of you.”

 

“Even though you are all part of the ghost team, you will be divided into more teams; around two or three teams, considering how many of you are here.” She explained. “And you are needed for different positions. I’m not going to talk about this in details, but basically in every team there are decoys, fighters, carriers, a watcher and a point.”

 

Nishinoya frowned at the names. They kind of self-explanatory, but he still couldn’t imagine how that would work.

 

“To put it simply, decoys are the ones who are the, well, decoys. Their job is to make the Undead follow them so that the rest of the team can do their job easily. Fighters are the one who fight the Undead; to protect the carriers and the point when necessary. Carriers are the big guys whose job is to carry the big stuffs. Most of your mission in the future might involve getting this and that from a town full of Undeads, because as we know, we are a little bit short in... resources.” She cleared his throat. “Watchers’ job is to watch... everything, basically. They are like the strategist; it would be easier to understand when you start your training tomorrow. And lastly, point. A point is very much like the decoys, but they stick with the pack; they went first, scout the perimeter and lead the pack.” She finished her explanation. “Don’t worry about it, when you start your training tomorrow, these positions would be much easier to understand.” She reassured them when she saw how confused they were.

 

“Right then, now let’s talk about the happy, fun stuffs.” She clapped her hands and started explaining about the house arrangements and their medical insurances.

 

* * *

 

Before they went home, Tawada-san had questioned whether any of them knew each other before they met here. Nishinoya answered excitedly, explaining how he and Hinata met Ushijima, Iwaizumi, Kuroo, Bokuto, Terushima and Aone there when they were first summoned to the city hall. A boy called Taku told her that he knew another boy—whose name was Kento—because they went to the same school. Tawada hummed and wrote something on her clipboard, and then she dismissed them.

 

Hinata was excited. It’s true that this whole thing was very... scary to think about. And he couldn’t ever imagine what would he do when they finally have to go out there and do their job but right now, he was excited. Tawada-san told them that tomorrow they will have their very first practice; tomorrow their positions will be announced, along with their teams.

 

“Noya-senpai! Do you think we will be in the same team?” Hinata skipped around on their way home. “I hope we will!”  
  
“Me too, Shouyou! It would be awesome if we are!” Nishinoya grinned.

 

It was 8.30 pm and it was very dark. None of the lights were on; only the ones near the fence were on, so they were using a candle lantern to light the way. It was almost as if they went to the past or something. The short boys walked side by side, chatting quietly about the things they have learned today, letting the warm light of the candle lantern the dark road to their small tent.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! Sorry for being mia, but school has started!  
> I will try to update as often as possible.  
> Don't worry, I promise I will finish this story!! xD  
> Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thanks to everyone who took the time to read my story and leave kudos/comments, I really appreciate them!! <3  
> See you next time!

The next day, they were required to be there at 7.30 am sharp. After everyone gathered, they all went together to a place that looked like the gym the boys had their tests in. The size were pretty much the same. They were told to line up and each of them were given a uniform.

“This is the uniform you will use when you are doing basic training.” Tawada-san explained. “Now, you should all go get changed. I will give you five minutes. Gather back here as soon as you’re done.” She said and everyone immediately rushed to the toilet.

Hinata slipped into his uniform quickly. He folded his clothes quite neatly, and then he carried it back to the gym where Tawada-san was waiting. She smiled when she saw Hinata and gestured him to put his clothes on the bench. Hinata went to approach her after he did it.

“How are you, Hinata-kun?” Tawada-san asked gently.

“I’m alright, it’s really nice meeting you again, Tawada-san.” HInata grinned and Tawada’s smile got wider. “Are you going to be the one who trains us?” Hinata asked.

“I will be one of the coaches. But I will be training the Watchers.” Tawada-san explained.

“Oh, I see.” Hinata hummed, trying to remember what Tawada-san said about watchers.

Some seconds later, everyone was done changing. They put their clothes on the benches, following HInata’s lead.

“Right then. Now that everyone’s here, I’m going to announce what your positions are.” Tawada-san said. “Your training regimens would be different depending on your position; with different coaches, of course. You will also have another uniform, the ones you will wear when you’re doing your job. The uniforms are slightly different for each position, so we will distribute them after I announced them.” She explained.

“Alright, I’m going to start with the Fighters.” She finally said. “If I call your name, you can go to Suzuki-san right there.” She pointed at a buff man, who was a lot more muscular than Nakamura-san. “Bokuto Koutarou.” Tawada-san called.   
  
Hinata turned to Bokuto-san, who clearly looked a little bit surprised. He went to approach Suzuki-san, though, standing beside him. Tawada-san mentioned some other names, each boy followed Bokuto-san’s lead and stood beside him and Suzuki-san. “...and Kuroo Tetsurou.” Tawada-san finally said. Kuroo grinned at Bokuto as he strolled towards him, they high-fived.

“Next, Carriers.” Tawada-san continued. Ushijima-san and Aone ended up being called, along with other big, tall boys who looked super strong Hinata was certain if one of them punched him, he’d die.

“Decoys.” Tawada-san announced. “Hinata Shouyou.”

Hinata was startled, but he regained his composure and went to approach Ishida-san, a small, muscular man with a grin plastered on his face. When Hinata was finally at his side, he turned to him and his grin got wider. “Welcome to the team.”

Hinata liked his coach already.

Tawada-san continued calling names. The only girl who stayed ended up being a Decoy, too, which surprised Hinata. He thought she was so cool.

“...and Nishinoya Yuu.”

Nishinoya grinned and ran towards Hinata. “Shouyou!”

“Noya-senpai!” Hinata grinned back. “We’re both Decoys! So cool!”

Nishinoya chuckled. “I know, right!”

And then the Points and Watcher were announced. There were only two Points and two Watchers, which was the least amount because the other positions have at least 4 members, there was 5 Fighters. Terushima-san ended up being a point, and Reon was a watcher.

“Right, now that everyone’s here.” Ishida-san began, making every Decoy turn to face him. “I’m Ishida Kazuki and I will be your coach.” He grinned. “I will just distribute your uniforms after we’re done with today’s practice, so remember not to run back home immediately when we’re done.”

“So! Can anyone tell me what Decoys are?” He clapped his hands. “Hinata-kun?”

“Oh! Um... Decoys are... decoys. Who’re supposed to er, make the zombies—“

“The Undead.” Ishida-san corrected him patiently.\

“Right, the undead... follow them. So that the others can do their jobs?” Hinata continued uncertainly.

“Right! Very good, Hinata-kun.” Ishida-san smiled. “Do you know what this means?” He turned to the other boys (and girl), prompting them to answer, but nobody said anything.

Ishida-san’s smile faded away, and his face turned serious. “It means that decoys work separately, they work by themselves, away from the pack.” He explained. “It means Decoys don’t have Fighters who can protect them.” He added. “It means Decoys have to protect themselves. And as Decoys,” He looked at Hinata dead in the eyes. “Your speed and stamina are your weapons. Ah, and also, the ability to react quickly and things like that.”

“We will begin by polishing your speed and stamina first, though. And we’re going to begin  _now_.” His grin was back on his face.

Hinata gulped. He had a feeling that today would be very exhausting.

 

* * *

 

 

“Noya, Hinata! You’re back!” Sugawara greeted them.

Hinata and Nishinoya arrived at their tent at 10 pm, the practice ended at 8.30 pm. Both of them were exhausted, which was why it took them long to walk back home. They didn’t even talk that much on their way back.

Every head turned to them and greeted them, following Sugawara’s lead. Nishinoya muttered “ _Tadaima_.”

Hinata felt like he was going to collapse.

Training with Ishida-san was... crazy. He pushed them to their limits, only allowing them to rest when all of them almost collapsed, and he didn’t even give them more than 10 minutes. Hinata felt like his limbs were about to detach themselves from his body. Not to mention how he and Nishinoya had to walk back to their campsite. They will be moved to the houses next week, so for now they still have to live in the tents. It wasn’t that far, but because both Hinata and Nishinoya were dying from the training, it felt  _really_  far.

“Are you okay?” Sugawara frowned, worried because his two energetic teammates seemed like they were out of energy; which never happened.

Hinata walked slowly to his sleeping bag, too tired to answer Sugawara or do anything else.

“We’re fine, Suga-san. Just very exhausted.” Nishinoya gave him a small smile before going to his own sleeping bag.

“Sorry, guys. I’m going to sleep first. Good night.” Hinata muttered.

“Me too.” Nishinoya said, and then before long, the other boys can hear their steady breathing, which means both of them were already asleep.

“They look really exhausted.” Asahi said nervously.

“Well... I guess that’s to be expected.” Tsukishima was frowning. Everyone turned to him. “I mean, we get a house and like, health insurances and stuffs. It comes with a price.” He explained. “It’s not a surprise the government work them to death.”

Everyone went silent after that, each of them deep in thoughts.

In the end, Daichi announced that he was going to turn of the lanterns, and everyone should go to sleep.

The boys went to their respective sleeping bags and went after their short teammates to the dreamland.

 

* * *

 

 

The next morning, Tsukishima stirred when Hinata was getting out of his sleeping bag.

 

“Shouyou?” He whispered groggily.

 

Hinata turned to Nishinoya and signalled him to go ahead. “I’ll be there in a minute.” He whispered. Nishinoya noded and went to the shower room first. “Hey.” Hinata turned to Tsukishima, who was already sitting down, and sat beside him. “Sorry. Did I wake you?”

Tsukishima shook his head. “What time is it?”

 

“It’s 5.30 am.”

 

“You have to be there at 7 am everyday?” Tsukishima frowned, recalling what Nishinoya said when he explained everything to them.

 

“Yep.” Hinata answered. He then leaned closer and pecked Tsukishima’s cheek. “I got to go. I’ll see you later, okay?” he was going to stand up, but Tsukishima pulled him and kissed him deeply.

 

“Don’t overwork yourself.” He muttered.

 

Hinata stood up and grinned. “Go back to sleep.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

“What’s wrong Komatsu-san? Are you tired?” Ishida-san approached Komatsu-san who stopped running. Ishida-san told them to run around the gym for 20 minutes straight and this was their third set. Komatsu-san stopped running, she was holding her stomach as if she was in pain.

 

Hinata was sure she was in pain because he was, too. He was sure Nishinoya-senpai and Miyamoto-san were the same. Komatsu-san was the only girl in the team and she happened to be a Decoy like Hinata, but it seemed like her stamina is the worst compared to the other Decoys. Ishida-san was actually a nice and friendly person. However, when practice starts, his whole personality changed and he became a terrifying coach. His symbolic grin were nowhere to be found, and he treated the Decoys strictly and train them super hard.

 

Ishida-san signalled Hinata, Nishinoya and Miyamoto to gather around. Hinata stood beside Komatsu-san, who looked like she was going to collapse anytime now.

 

"When you're outside, doing your jobs, your missions," Ishida-san started. "You are going to run everywhere, keeping the Undead on your tail." He said. "Do you think the Undead will stop chasing you if you get tired and give you a five-minute break? Do you, Komatsu-san?"

 

Komatsu-san bit her lips and shook her head.

 

"Exactly. So, can anyone tell me what will happen if when you have dozen of Undeads on your tail, you ran out of stamina and stopped running? Nishinoya-kun?"

 

"We die." Nishinoya gritted his teeth.

 

"Boo, wrong answer. They are going to eat you, attack you, and you'll feel like you're dying slowly and painfully." Ishida-san said, voice grave. "And then, you turn to one of them." he added. "So _get your feet working_ , lady and gentlemen." 

 

* * *

 

 

"Before everyone leaves, I've got an announcement." Tawada-san asked them to gather when each group was done with their trainings. "As you know, tomorrow you and your families are going to move in to the house we've already assigned to you." She started. "Sorry to ruin the mood but tomorrow, you will still have trainings."

 

Hinata heard someone groaning behind him.

 

"Yes, I know." Tawada-san smiled. "But you will start later than usual. You are all to gather here on 12.30 pm. Make sure you've eaten lunch. The training might end later than usual, though. But I reckon it's fine since you live nearby now."

 

"Also, we have divided you into two teams. This is the team for your missions, you will have to work together with them everytime you go outside." She added. "Each positions will still have group trainings for another two weeks before we start the team trainings. You can look at the assigned group names on the announcement board after this. Any questions?" she looked around. When nobody asked her anything, she nodded and dismissed them.

 

Everyone rushed to the announcement board to look at their assigned group.

 

**Apha Team**

  
**Carriers:**

Aone Takanobu

Ushijima Wakatoshi **(Vice-Captain)**

 

**Fighters:**

Bokuto Koutarou

Kuroo Tetsurou **(Captain)**

 

**Point:**

Terushima Yuuji

 

**Watcher:**

Ikami Reon

 

**Decoys:**

Hinata Shouyou

Nishinoya Yuu

 

The rest of the boys plus Komatsu-san were in the Beta team. 

 

Hinata's eyes widen when he saw the names. He cannot belive it, this is too good to be true. He turned and saw Tawada-san looking at them. She smiled, and Hinata remembered how she asked if anyone here knows each other. She must have put them in a group on purpose. Perhaps it was so that they'd be able to work together or something.

 

They used to belong in different teams though, before all of this happened.

 

Hinata was a little bit nervous about being in the same group with Japan, but he was sure he could get along well with the rest.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, here's another update.  
> If anyone's reading this story, pls leave a comment! :") <3

The next week, the crows stood in front of a minimalistic house. It wasn’t super big, but it was enough. Nishinoya was holding a paper in which their house address and a little map was written on. After a while, he turned to his teammates and said,”this is it.”

 

Daichi nodded and started walking towards the door.

 

“Ah! Wait! Before we enter,” Nishinoya stopped him. “I.. um, the house isn’t so big and there are only 5 bedrooms. So we... you know, we have to share. Sorry.”

 

The other boys frowned at what he said.

 

“Why are you apologizing?” Sugawara asked. “Even if all of us have to sleep in the same room, we’ll still be grateful. 5 bedrooms are _great_ , Noya.”

 

“You’re being ridiculous, Noya-san.” Tanaka grinned and slung his arm over NIshinoya’s shoulder.

 

The crows then entered their new home.

 

* * *

 

 

“I thought they’d allow you to take today off because we’re moving in?” Yamaguchi frowned when Hinata told them that he and Nishinoya still have to work that day.

 

“Yeah, nope. They gave us some time to eat lunch, though, so we can eat lunch together!” Hinata grinned.

 

The boys then headed out to the nearest cafeteria. Generally, people here eat in cafeterias. However, people who have kitchen in their house/apartment prefer to cook at home. After all, no one fancies queuing. But since this was the boys’ first day, they still didn’t have the ingredients, so they have to eat in the cafeteria. Usually, every family can choose whether they want to eat in the cafeteria or cook at their dwellings. If they choose to cook, the government will provide them with the ingredients (which are rationed). If they choose to eat in the cafeteria, then they will be given a card made of paper that gives them two week’s worth of breakfast, lunch and dinner. They can choose every week.

 

They went to get their foods and sat down on an unoccupied table. They have just started eating when a girl approached their table.

 

“Um...” she looked uncertain.

 

“Komatsu-san!” Hinata greeted her. “Hello! Are you eating lunch with your family too?”

 

Komatsu looked relieved and she nodded, flashing him a small smile. Nishinoya turned and greeted her, too.

 

“Um... Can I talk to you, Hinata-kun?” She then asked.

 

“O-oh, sure! How about Noya-san?”

 

“I... want to talk to you privately.” She said.

 

Raising his eyebrows, Hinata stood. “Oh, Okay then.” Komatsu turned around and Hinata was about to follow her when someone stopped him.

 

Tsukishima was grabbing his hand before he got the chance to walk away. Hinata turned to see his boyfriend frowning. He grinned. “Won’t take long, Stingyshima.” He leaned down to peck his boyfriend’s cheek and followed Komatsu-san, bringing his food with him.

 

“Who’s that?” Tsukishima turned to Nishinoya.

 

Nishinoya answered while he was chewing. “Oh, don’t worry. That’s just Komatsu-san. She’s just like us, a de--“ Nishinoya’s eyes widen when he realised what he almost did. It must’ve been because he was concentrating too much on his food.

 

“A what?” Sugawara joined in. Nishinoya looked around and realised that his teammates eyes were all on him.

 

“Er... a government worker, of course.” Nishinoya said.

 

“But you were saying a de—something. It starts with a d.” Tanaka frowned.

 

“Was I? I wasn’t paying attention, i’m starving!” Nishinoya said and quickly resumed eating.

 

* * *

 

 

Hinata followed Komatsu-san to an unoccupied table on the other end of the cafeteria, which was pretty deserted. Komatsu-san sat, and Hinata followed her lead, sitting down opposite her. “What is it, Komatsu-san?”

 

“I... I was just wondering if you...” Her cheeks turned pink as she looked down, avoiding Hinata’s eyes.

 

“If I...?”

 

“If you can give me tips on how to improve my stamina and speed.” She finished, face completely red by now. Hinata didn’t expect that, so he was too surprised to say anything. “I mean, I know I’m the only girl here and you all are probably looking down on me, but I... I want to improve. I want to prove that I can.”

 

That startled Hinata. “What? No! I think you’re really cool!”

 

Komatsu’s head snapped up and she finally look into Hinata’s eyes. “Y-you do?”

 

“Of course! Being a girl has nothing to do with anything. If anyone’s looking down at you, you just have to prove them that they’re wrong!” Hinata exclaimed. “People look down at me all the time, because I’m all short and small, unlike most boys.” Hinata pouted.

 

“They do?” Komatsu looked genuinely surprised. ”But you’re amazing!”

 

“A-ah, thank you, Komatsu-san.” Hinata blushed. Amazing wasn’t the word he’d use to describe himself, so hearing someone said that flustered him.

 

“You can call me Nana.” Komatsu smiled. “And you are amazing. You’re like the best Decoy. I think you’re Ishida-san’s favourite.” She added before Hinata can say anything, smiling sadly. It was true, the best decoy part. Nishinoya-senpai had a pretty amazing speed, too, but Hinata was still better than him. “And I’m his least favourite.”

 

“No, you’re not! I think he likes us all the same.” Hinata said confidently. “And you can call me Shouyou, Nana-chan.”

 

Nana smiled, and she urged Hinata to start telling her what does he think she should do in order to improve her speed and stamina.

 

* * *

  

“See you later, Nana-chan!” Hinata waved. When Hinata returned to their table, everyone was done eating. Hinata slipped and sat down between Tsukishima and Kageyama.

 

“So now you’re on first-name term?” Tsukishima’s frown deepen.

 

Hinata laced their fingers together, oblivious to the fact that Tsukishima was being skeptical.

 

“Mhmm.” Hinata hummed.

 

Tsukishima sighed at his oblivious boyfriend, but he was secretly liking how their fingers intertwine. “What were you talking about?”

 

“Oh, you know, work. She was asking me to give her advices.” Hinata grinned.

 

“Advice? From you?”

 

“Hey!” Hinata pouted. “I’m really great at what I’m doing!”

 

Yamaguchi and Asahi laughed as Kageyama grunted. Hinata turned to Kageyama. “Shut up, bakageyama!”  
  
“He really is.” Nishinoya said from the other side of the table. “He’s even our boss’ favourite!”

 

“Boss—you mean Ishida-san?” Hinata asked. “Why is everyone saying that? I’m _not_ his favourite!” He frowned. “He likes us all the same.”

 

Nishinoya grinned. “Sure, Shouyou. Just try and pay attention more later when we’re working.”

 

* * *

 

 

Hinata started to pay attention and he caught Ishida-san staring at him—quite intensely, actually. It was like he was assessing Hinata’s every move, he wasn’t smiling, but he wasn’t frowning, either. He just looked serious. The worst part of it was that even if Hinata caught him staring, he wouldn’t stop staring; he’d just keep staring back until Hinata decided to look somewhere else.

 

It was strange, it was a little bit nerve wrecking, but Hinata tried his best to ignore him and focus on their training menu instead. Today, they were running on an obstacle course. It was surprisingly fun. Nana was having a hard time adjusting, but once in a while Hinata would send her an encouraging smile, and she’d nod and try again. Nishinoya was good at the obstacle course, but his speed and stamina still needed some improvement. Miyamoto was surprisingly the second best, his stamina and speed were a little bit better than Nishinoya.

 

“You are all improving.” Ishida-san said before he dismissed them. “Slowly, but surely, each of you are improving, and you are all slowly beginning to be a reliable decoy, in terms of speed and stamina.” He added. “We still have a lot of things to learn, though, like how to read the gps properly, how to use sound bombs and small bombs, how to win close hand combat when needed... but we will get there. We will learn to do each of those things one by one. Tomorrow, I’m going to introduce you to the gps system. It’s really important to Decoys, because you’re going to work separately from the others and you have to lead the Undead _away_ from them. But I won’t go into details now, we will continue tomorrow. Good work, everyone.” And then he dismissed them.

 

“Hinata-kun.” He called Hinata over before Hinata had the chance to follow Nishinoya to the bathroom. Everyone usually take shower there before going home, no one wants to go home sweating and gross. It might be a little bit suspicious too, so most of them preferred to take a bath there.

 

Hinata approached his coach, his stomach churning in worry. “Is anything wrong, Ishida-san?” he asked warily.

 

Ishida-san shook his head and patted his back, his signature grin plastered on his face. “No. I just wanted to tell you that you’re doing great.” He said kindly. “You’re going to be a great Decoy, Hinata-kun.”

 

Hinata’s stomach stopped churning and he sighed in relief. “T-thank you, Ishida-san!” He felt his cheeks warming.

 

“If I had to bet on any of you, on who will survive out there,” Ishida-san prompted. “I’d definitely bet on you.”

 

He gave Hinata one last pat on the back and left. Hinata didn’t like how that sounded, even though Ishida-san was literally praisining him.

 

 _I’m betting on everyone._ Hinata thought. _All of us are going to survive out there, and we will do our jobs perfectly._


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I know it's been a long time but here's an update. It's pretty long, so I hope you guys will enjoy it!  
> Let me know what you think about it in the comments :D

Everything went well from that point on. Ishida-san had taught them how to read the GPS, how to use the sound bombs and the regular small bombs—where they can throw it to and where they shouldn't throw it to—, they even started to have a combat lesson last week. Hinata disliked the combat lesson, even though he knew he'd need it when he's out there. He knows that he'll be killing the Undead, but he also know that before being Undeads, those were people. Humans. Like him. The day before the team training started, Ishida-san asked them to stay because he wanted to give them their uniform, the ones they will wear on the field. His face was stern and his voice was stiff, so Hinata didn't have a good feeling about it.

His feeling was confirmed when Ishida-san took out a gun. At the sight of the gun, the Decoys' faces paled.

"Before the team training start, there is one last thing I have to teach you." Ishida-san gritted his teeth. It seemed like he didn't like the topic as much as the Decoys did.

"This," He held the gun up. "Is one last equipment you will be given in the field. You'll realise it the moment you try your uniform out, because there is a gun holster there." He said, his voice grim. "You will all be given a gun. But this..." he paused. "Is not for killing the Undead."

"As you know from the combat lesson, the only way known to kill an Undead is to _remove_ their heart from their body. And of course, no one's got enough time to do that, and you can't exactly pull their heart out with a gun—and guns are too noisy you'll just attract more of them, which is why you are taught how to use knifes, because you can't kill them, but you can paralyze them by stabbing the back of their head—their brain, if you will." He explained. "But as I explained before, as long as their heart was inside, they can regenerate their cells and heal themselves. So, can anyone tell me what this gun is for?" He prompted. "Miyamoto-kun?"

Miyamoto stood in silence, avoiding eye contact. "No?" Ishida-san asked. "Okay. This gun... is your last resort."

Hinata's throat tightened at his words.

"What... do you mean?" Nishinoya's voice was not more than a whisper.

"It means when you are cornered, Nishinoya-kun, and you know exactly that you can't get away from whatever is going to happen..." Ishida-san avoided looking at them in their eyes. "This gun... is what you turn to."

Everyone was silent for a second.

And then, Nana gasped.

"You are telling us to kill ourselves?!" Nishinoya shouted furiously.

"No, Nishinoya-kun, I'm not te—"

"That's sick! That's—How could you?!" Nishinoya didn't let Ishida-san finish. Hinata couldn't find his voice. This whole thing, it was crazy. Hinata knew it was crazy from the beginning, but this was the craziest. He knew, he knew that this job would be risky, and it would be the matter of life and death; but standing here in front of his coach, staring at the gun he was holding, Hinata felt like death was so, so much real.

"Nishinoya-kun—"

Nishinoya left the gym before Ishida-san could say anything else. Nana followed his lead, desperately trying to hold back her tears. Miyamoto looked like his soul was just sucked out of his body. Hinata just stood there, frozen. Ishida-san, Miyamoto and Hinata stood there in silence before Ishida-san opened his mouth.

"...You are dismissed." He said, and then he left. Hinata was sure that he saw a pained look on his coach's face, but he wasn't sure.

Several minutes later, after Hinata trusted himself not to collapse when he takes a step, he turned to Miyamoto. "Miyamoto-kun, let's clean ourselves."

"A-ah, okay."

They walked to the bathroom in silence, and they took shower in silence. The only sound came from the water. When they were done, they said their goodbyes quietly and went their separate ways. Hinata had tried looking for Nishinoya, but he couldn't find him anywhere, so Hinata thought that his senpai must've gone home without him.

The thought made him sad and troubled all over again, but Hinata tried focusing on the flickering light of his candle lantern and forced himself to walk home. After all, it was late, he was late, way later than he usually is.

When Hinata arrived home, he was greeted by a house full of worried teammates. "They're here!" Tanaka announced when Hinata opened the door to their house. When Hinata went inside, everyone crowded him.

"Hinata, where's Nishinoya?" Daichi frowned.

"Wh—he's not home yet?" Hinata's eyes widen in realisation. The rest of the boys shook their heads and Hinata's face paled.

"Hinata—"

"Shouyou, what's wrong?" Tsukishima was suddenly beside him, face worried.

"I... I need to find him." Hinata whispered. His mind started spinning. Why isn't Noya-senpai home yet? If he didn't go home before him, then where was he? Hinata was worried for his upperclassman, remembering how bad he reacted at the news.

"Hinata, did something happen?" Asahi asked, worried for his boyfriend.

Before Hinata could answer, they heard the front door open. "Noya!" Asahi ran to greet his boyfriend.

When Nishinoya walked into the living room, everyone went silent. He looked stiff, and his hands were balled into fists. No one knew what to say at the sight.

"Noya-san..." Hinata started.

"Not now, Shouyou." Nishinoya said through gritted teeth. He walked straight towards his bedroom—which was shared with Asahi—not acknowledging the existence of his other teammates. Before entering his bedroom, he stopped. "We'll talk tomorrow." He said, and then he went inside.

Everyone turned to Hinata and he hated it. He hated it because his eyes started stinging. He wished he could disappear right then. He tried to blink the tears away and calm his heart—his heart had been beating crazily ever since he heard Nishinoya wasn't home yet.

He knew how Nishinoya felt. He must've felt betrayed. And frustrated. And sad.

And _scared._

At least, that's what Hinata felt.

"Hinata, did something—" Ennoshita tried asking, but Hinata cut him.

"Nothing happened." He choked. "I... I'm going to bed." And with that, Hinata flee to his bedroom before anyone could react, hoping that he could at least pretend to sleep when Tsukishima comes in so that he wouldn't have to deal with the blonde's questions.

* * *

The next day, both Decoys walked to their base in silence. Hinata didn't know what to say to Nishinoya. Of course, he wanted to comfort his Senpai, but he didn't know how. In fact, he himself _needed_ to be comforted.

"I'm sorry for yesterday." Nishinoya said vaguely. "I'm sorry, Shouyou. I'm sorry for everything. It was a bad idea, this was a bad idea. I'm sorry for forcing you to go into this crazy shit w—"

"What are you talking about, Noya-san?" Hinata stopped walking and turned to his Senpai. "I decided by myself to accept this offer. No one _forced_ me."

"I—"

"This is the reality, Noya-san. This is our reality." HInata said, trying to keep his voice from breaking. "This is what we chose. And it's crazy. It's crazy how they are going to give us gun to kill ourselves."

"Sho—"

"But think about it, Noya-san." Hinata didn't let Nishinoya finish. "If anything, it's... better that way."

That startled Nishinoya. "What are you saying, Shouyou?!" He couldn't stop himself from yelling.

"I... I don't want to turn into one of them." Hinata answered quietly. "They are offering us a way to be defeated without being turned into one of them, Noya-san."

"..." Still startled by his Kouhai's words, Nishinoya gritted his teeth. "But that's the same as giving up."

"No, it's really not." Hinata retorted. "It's a way out, a last resort when we know for sure that we can't get away."

"But we never know for sure, we aren't God! What if there is actually a way out, but because we were so depressed and there was a gun, which is an easier way out and we chose to die?"

"That's not how they want us to look at it, Nishinoya-senpai." Hinata took a deep breath. "Of course they don't want to lose us too, they have been training us hard that it'd be a waste. This is a favor, they're doing us a favor, Noya-senpai."

"I think that's how you should look at it." And with that, Hinata turned and resumed walking, leaving his dejected Senpai behind.

* * *

Things are going well. After that, the team training had started and Nishinoya turned into his usual self. Bokuto and the others didn't look troubled or anything, so Hinata figured that they must've dealt with the gun issues, too. The team training consisted of them trying to move some heavy things somewhere. In their first team training, they were told to move bags of rice from one place to another. Of course, Ushijima and Aone were the ones who carried them. Terushima led their route, while Kuroo and Bokuto followed them everywhere. Reon just sat in their 'base', talking to them, telling Terushima the fastest route back to the base and giving instructions to Hinata and Nishinoya; like how they should run a little bit to the South, or how much longer should they keep the Undead in their tails. Of course, there wasn't any real Undead, so Hinata and Nishinoya just ran everywhere while Miyamoto and Nana chased them. When the Beta team was practicing, it was Hinata and Nishinoya's turn to play the role of the Undead.

This explained why the Decoys looked the most tired whenever practice was over. They barely have any time to breathe. Obviously, this was Ishida-san's idea.

They kept doing the same thing every day, sometimes there were no team practice and they have their own practices like before. Hinata could feel how his stamina and speed had increased. They all could last longer, now. Nana was improving immensely, too. After what seemed like countless days of training (it was actually two months of training), Tawada-san asked everyone to gather before going home. Noticing the pattern, Hinata knew that there must be some important announcement.

"Good evening everyone," Tawada-san greeted them. "As you've probably guessed, I'm here to announce some things. Let's start with the good thing." She smiled. "First of all, you've all worked hard every single day these past two months, and so tomorrow and the day after, there will be no training."

Hinata turned to Reon and high-fived the Watcher. "Two days of break? This is amazing!" Reon exclaimed. Hinata nodded excitedly in agreement.

"But, afterwards, we are going to have an intense training camp and a... simulation." Tawada-san's smile faded. Everyone went silent. "You're going to stay here for two weeks, so make sure to notify your family. In those two weeks, as I mentioned before there will be intense training for a week." She explained. "As for the... simulation..." she paused.

"You will have your simulation outside the fences and walls."

Hinata heard some gasps, and a lot of them started talking at once.

"Silence! I'm not done." Tawada-san said. "Don't worry, it's just a simulation which means the coaches will be with you. And we won't go too far from the walls, we will go to a Class-A Damaged Territory. The training is only for a week and the simulation is only for a day or two, but you need to tell your family that you're going to stay here for at least two weeks so that if something... unexpected happens, you will have time to recover before going back, to avoid suspicion."

Hinata gulped. He tried recalling about what Class-A Damaged Territory was. In short, it was a territory where the number of Undeads are the least, with the lowest level of infection. To put it simply, it's an easy course. Easier than the rest, at least. But still, there was risk, and Hinata was sure everyone was thinking the same thing.

Because no matter what the category of the territory was, outside the walls, it's all real.

* * *

The next day was a Saturday. Tsukishima woke up and found Hinata sleeping beside him, which confused him. He panicked, thinking that his short boyfriend overslept. Tsukishima sat up and started shaking Hinata, trying to wake him up.

"Ugh... Kei? What is it?" Hinata groaned.

"Aren't you late?" Tsukishima asked warily.

"Huh? No. Today's our day off." Hinata rubbed his eyes and yawned. "Stop worrying and come here." Hinata spread his arms, urging Tsukishima to lie back down.

Tsukishima lay down and pulled his boyfriend into a tight hug. Hinata hummed and hid his face in the crook of his neck.

"I missed you." Hinata whispered.

"Well, in my defense, you're the one who's never here."

"Don't be an asshole so early in the morning."

Tsukishima chuckled. "So today's really your day off?" he asked curiously.

"Yep, and tomorrow too."

"Why?"

"Mmm.."

"Shou."

"Because," Hinata pulled back so that he could look into Tsukishima's eyes. "I may or may not be able to go home for several days afterwards. I'm going to be busy."

"So—"

" _So_ ," Hinata pouted. "You better kiss me when I'm still here."

* * *

Everyone was already in the living room when Hinata and Tsukishima finally went outside.

"Good morning!" Sugawara greeted them cheerfully. "There are some apples and bananas in the fridge for breakfast. Also some milk!"

"Good morning." Hinata greeted his teammates. He took a banana from the fridge and sat beside Kageyama, who was drinking a glass of milk. Tsukishima went and chatted with Yamaguchi while eating his apple. Sugawara was talking with Daichi, Asahi and Ennoshita on the dining table. Hinata can faintly hear Nishinoya and Tanaka talking excitedly in front of their house.

"Bakageyama! Do you want to jog? I'll race you!" Hinata grinned and turn to Kageyama. He hadn't seen his partner for so long. Hinata almost forgot how they were always together and how they always fight over ridiculous things.

Kageyama looked startled for a second and then his scary grin was on his face. "Bring it on!"

However, before the two idiots could stand up and run outside, Daichi approached them. "Hinata, Kageyama. Morning." He greeted them with a smile.

"Good morning, Daichi-san!" Hinata smiled back.

"So I heard you and Nishinoya have today and tomorrow off?"

Hinata nodded vigorously. "Yes! Isn't it awesome?"

Daichi chuckled. "It is. It's nice to have you guys here again. It's not as noisy without both of you here."

Sugawara joined and ruffled Hinata's hair. "Yeah, Tanaka and Kageyama weren't as noisy without you and Nishinoya here."

"I'm not noisy." Kageyama mumbled.

Hinata ignored him and grinned. "It's nice to be able to hang out with everyone, too." And then he remembered something. "Oh, have Noya-san told you about the training camp yet?"

Daichi raised his eyebrows. "No, Nishinoya didn't say anything about that."

"I didn't say anything about what?" Nishinoya suddenly popped out of nowhere, along with Tanaka.

"The training camp." Hinata explained.

"Oh, yeah, that." Nishinoya said. He turned to Daichi and Sugawara. "We'll be having today and tomorrow off, but after that we won't be able to go home for some days, because we'll have training."

"What kind of training?" Asahi joined in.

"Training so that we could be better at our job, of course." Nishinoya smiled gently at his boyfriend.

"For how long?" Sugawara asked.

"Two weeks," Nishinoya said. "Give or take." He added when he saw Sugawara frowning. "It's nothing big, really. But there will be a lot of things to do and going back and forth to our house is a waste of time."

"But our house is near." Tsukishima pointed out.

"Yeah, but the training is on the other side of the city." Nishinoya retorted. "Don't worry, we'll be back before you realise it. Right, Shouyou?"

"Right!" Hinata gave them a thumbs up.

"Noya, Hinata." Daichi's face turned serious. Hinata felt his heart started to beat faster. When Daichi is serious, it always made him nervous. "I understand that you're not supposed to talk about your job to other people, but can you at least tell us? We're family, right? Isn't there like, an exception or something for families?"

Hinata and Nishinoya looked at each other.

"We really can't talk about it, Daichi-san." Nishinoya said apologetically. "Let's just have fun today!" he grinned.

* * *

It was their second and last day off. Tomorrow, Hinata and Nishinoya would be going to the camp. Hinata's more than nervous, not because of the camp, but because of the simulation. But of course, he couldn't show he was nervous because the others might be suspicious. He couldn't really talk with Nishinoya, too, because they were never alone. They have been spending their day off with their teammates, and sometimes just with their boyfriends, but never together.

"Kei." Hinata whispered as he scooted closer to Tsukishima. "Can you stay awake with me? Just for like, another 15 or 20 minutes?" It was 9 pm and they were already lying down in their bedroom.

"Hmm?"

"I don't want to sleep yet. I still want to spend some time with you." Hinata pouted. Tsukishima smiled and pulled Hinata closer. "I'm gonna miss you." Hinata mumbled.

"Hurry back to me, then." Tsukishima replied.

"Kei?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

Tsukishima was startled. Not because Hinata had never said it to him, but because Hinata never said it to him randomly. It was always at a special moment, on their anniversary, for example.

"I love you, too."

* * *

Sleep didn't come easy for Tsukishima that night. He had a hard time falling asleep because he suddenly had this bad feeling. When he was finally able to sleep, he'd wake up at the smallest noise. So when Hinata came to kiss him after he took a shower, Tsukishima was already awake.

Hinata sat on the bed and leaned down to him. "Hey." He whispered.

"Can't I go and visit you?" Tsukishima blurted.

Hinata's eyes soften at that. "You can't. I'll be really busy I wouldn't have the time to meet you. Plus, it's prohibited." He smiled sadly.

"Oh." Tsukishima mumbled. None of them said anything for a few seconds, and then Tsukishima pulled Hinata and hugged him tightly. "Don't overwork yourself."

Hinata hugged him back. "I won't. Don't worry about me."

"I love you." Tsukishima blurted. He still couldn't shake the feeling in his gut. It was telling him not to let Hinata go anywhere.

"I love you too, Kei." Hinata pecked his lips. "I'll be back before you know it."

With a final kiss, Hinata stood and turned to the door.

"Hurry back to me." Tsukishima whispered, not big enough for Hinata to hear. However, Hinata stopped walking and turned.

"I will." He smiled. With that, Hinata turned and went.

Tsukishima sighed. He wasn't really the emotional and clingy type, but the feeling he had been having since last night made him worried. He closed his eyes and prayed that his gut is wrong, and nothing bad will happen to his boyfriend. After all, they are safe, surrounded by the walls; what could possibly happen?


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, is anyone reading this fic? :")  
> I'm back with another chapter! A short one, but an update nevertheless. Updates might be really slow but I promise I won't abandon this fic. It will be completed in time. Kudos and Comments are greatly appreciated! Let me know what you think about it.

 

The training camp is exhausting. Hinata couldn't help but think that if he hadn't been practicing everyday these past few months, if his old self—before this crazy apocalypse thing happened—had to participate in this training camp he'd die of exhaustion. And they say that he had great stamina.

There were a lot of group trainings. Most of their trainings were group trainings. Hinata and Nishinoya were getting used to work together with Kuroo, Bokuto, Aone, Ushijima, Terushima and Reon. Well, mostly just with Reon because their position requires them to work separately from the others; but they still need to listen to Reon's pointers. On their third day of training, Ishida-san and Tawada-san, along with their other trainers, gathered all of them and asked them to bring their phones with them. Before the training camp, after Tawada-san announced about the training camp and the simulation, Ishida-san had asked all of them to bring their phones with them. Hinata couldn't understand why, but he brought his anyway.

The trainers were smiling gently at them when they finally gathered.

"This is not much, but we figured that we want to give you a gift." Tawada-san said. "For.. everything really. For being brave enough. You're all very brave." She continued. And then she asked them to queue to charge their phone, just so they have enough power to be turned on, and pick two pictures they want to print and send them to the Ishida-san's laptop through bluetooth.

Hinata didn't see that coming, so he was really, really nervous. He never thought that he'd be able to turn on his phone again, since in this new society of them, no one uses phone because it was deemed unnecessary. The city wasn't very big anyway and there wasn't any operating towers. Hinata found himself being restless when he was queuing. He was right behind Reon and in front of Bokuto. The fact that he can only pick two pictures to print didn't help. He had so many pictures in his phone—a lot of them were pictures of his loved ones—that he want to remember and possess. So when it was finally his turn, he waited nervously for his phone to recharge itself until its screen lightened and he can see it turning on. After it turned on, Hinata didn't dare to do anything with it because he wasn't sure about.. about everything, really. So he just stood there and waited. After a few minutes, Tawada-san signalled him to give the charger to the person behind him, so he unplugged his phone while trying to look anywhere but his phone screen, and went to the corner of the room.

He couldn't even find the courage to press any button so that the screen will light up again because he knew what he was going to see. Despite his horrid memory, he could still remember his phone wallpaper. He had just changed it several days before the apocalypse happened, after all.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breathe.

 _It will be fine,_ he told himself.

_I'm not going to cry._

He then opened his eyes and with the courage and determination he could muster, pressed the home button.

His phone screen lighted up and showed the picture of Tsukishima, him and Natsu, laughing together.

Hinata's breath hitched.

They went to Disneyland, the three of them. It was Tsukishima's gift for Natsu's birthday, and they had a wonderful day. It was one of the best day in Hinata's life. Even though he couldn't ride the scary rides he had wanted to try because Natsu's there, it was still an amazing day. Natsu was sitting between Hinata and Tsukishima, holding her vanilla ice cream. Tsukishima was holding his strawberry ice cream, while Hinata wasn't holding any because he had finished his as soon as he got his hands on it.

He realised he was crying when his tears dropped into his phone. Natsu's face... he had almost forgotten Natsu's face. He never thought that he'd forget his own sister's face, and he never really think about her face—the details of her face because in his mind, he thought that he knew and he will always know how she looked like. He wiped his tears, and when he saw the amount of battery life—5%, he knew that he need to make a decision. So despite the lump that was suddenly formed in his throat, he took a deep breathe and proceeded to access his phone gallery.

He could see photos, hundreds and thousands of them, and he knew that he didn't have the time to look at each and every one of them, even though that's something he really wanted to do.

He skimmed his gallery, and settled for the first picture. It was a picture of his family, his mom, his dad, Natsu, himself and Tsukishima. His family had taken him on a dinner, it was around 3 weeks after they started dating. Everyone was smiling widely there, except Tsukishima because he doesn't really do _wide smiles_. But Hinata could see a small, gentle smile on his boyfriend's face.

After pondering for a while, he finally decided on the second picture. It was the picture they took after Karasuno won against Shiratorizawa. The whole team was there, so were their managers, their coach and Takeda-sensei. That's not all.

The reason why Hinata chose this photo was because Akiteru was there. Hinata didn't have any picture with Tsukishima's parents or Akiteru, but he wanted something for his boyfriend. He knew that this would mean the world for him. Saeko-san, Tanaka-senpai's sister was there too. So do some family members of his team. Hinata thought that this picture would be fitting, everyone on his team had their loved ones in there, albeit not complete, he thought that they'd feel grateful nonetheless. He couldn't just get the privilege of keeping a picture of his family while his teammates—his current family—are slowly forgetting the faces of their loved ones, just like what he realised was happening to him when he first saw his wallpaper.

So he marked the two pictures and sent it to Ishida-san's laptop with bluetooth. He still had 3% of battery life, but he didn't feel like crying. Not now, not when he's in a room full of people. Even though he could hear some sobs around him. So he turned his phone off, knowing that he could still turn it on one more time, in which he intended to do when he was alone.

* * *

 

The next day, when they were gathered, Tawada-san was giving them their chosen photos. It wasn't big, only 5x7, the size of the printed pictures of Hinata's school trips that he had on his bedroom walls back in his home. Hinata held the portraits gently, afraid he might ruin it.

Hinata realised that Ishida-san had been standing beside Tawada-san, and he was holding a box.

He waited patiently for Tawada-san to distribute everyone's photos, and then he stepped forwards. "I have one more thing to distribute." He began. "when I call your name, please step forward." He explained. "I'll start from decoys. Hinata Shouyou."

Hinata stepped forward and eyed him questioningly. Ishida-san grabbed something from the box and handed it to Hinata.

It was a necklace. No, it was an identification tag. The ones that soldier usually wears. Like dog tags. It had Hinata's name on it. Just his name, Hinata Shouyou, without anything else. Hinata might not be smart, but he knew that this would be use to identify him if something wrong ever happened. Not that he thought they'd need that to identify him, though, his hair and height were pretty good identification already.

He was surprised when he found that he could open it.

He was more surprised when he found the miniature of his family picture, and the group shot in it.

By the time Hinata was done being surprised, everyone had gotten their identification tag and everyone was busy looking at it. And the mini photos inside it. Hinata caught Ishida-san's eyes and hoped that he could understand what he was trying to say.

_Thank you._


	12. Chapter 12

The night before their simulation, Kuroo asked all of them to gather after practice, their team. They were sitting in silence. Kuroo didn’t have his usual playful smirk plastered on his face, Bokuto wasn’t saying anything as he stared at the little pictures inside his identifying tag, the usually noisy Terushima, Nishinoya and Reon was just sitting there with worry apparent on their faces. Aone was quiet as usual, so Hinata couldn’t really tell if he was scared or not. The only one who looked calm was Ushijima. His face was relaxed and focused as he waited patiently for their captain to say something.

 

Kuroo took a deep breath and started talking.

 

“Honestly, I gathered you all here so that I could give you guys a pep-talk before our simulation tomorrow,” he started, “but I changed my mind.”

 

Everyone stopped looking at nothing and turned to him.

 

“I wanted to say things like, don’t be nervous, think of it as practice. But... I don’t think that’s the right approach.” He looked at Ushijima right in the eye. “Because simulation or not, tomorrow is going to be the real thing.”

 

“It’s **_not_** going to be like practice. There is no room for error.” He said sternly. “I don’t want you to think of it as practice, I want you to think of it as it is. If we don’t move faster, if we don’t run faster, if we don’t do things correctly, we are going to _die_.” He said, emphasizing the last word. “I’m not saying this to scare you—well, maybe I am, but being scared of _reality_ is just going to put us in our place; it’s not like we are _unreasonably_ scared and worried.”

 

“So tomorrow, when we’re out there, feel it. Feel the fear. Know for certain that a moment of hesitation can cost you your lives. Everything comes with a price, we _are_ fighting for our lives. If there is anything that can make people do wonders other than love and determination, they are _fear_ and the _desperation to live_.”

 

Hinata felt his heart skipped a beat, but not for a bad reason. It’s almost like what Kuroo said made him realise something.

 

_I’m not going to lose._

 

“So tomorrow, be desperate, but don’t lose your focus. Desperation and recklessness do no good; I doubt any one of you will be reckless though, after all we’ve achieved, after all those practices, all day _every day_ for the past few months. Believe in what we practiced, let the things we have practiced over and over again for hundreds of times turn the anxiety and worry into confidence.” He stopped talking and looked around, looked at all of them one by one in the eyes.

 

“I trust you.”

 

* * *

 

It was the day of their simulation. Hinata woke up a little bit earlier than he was supposed to, however he felt rested. He was suprised to find himself feeling okay. He was still scared and worried, but more than that he felt determined. And focused.

 

So when it was the time to get up, Hinata finished getting ready first. Their whole team did stretching together. Their team will do the simulation today, while the Beta team will do theirs tomorrow.  Their coaches asked the Beta team to attend the briefing, though. 

 

After some more  _be focused_  and  _listen to your Watcher_  and  _listen to each others_  and  _pay attention to your surroundings_ , their briefing was done and the Alpha team were asked to gather outside of the building for departure. Tawada-san, Ishida-san as well as Katsuki-san (the coach of the Fighters) will be going with them on this mission. Though, they will be staying inside the tank with Reon, because even though they trained them, they themselves are not trained for the occasion. They’re too old for it. 

 

When Hinata looked around, he noticed that his team didn’t look nervous, perhaps Kuroo’s talk last night did have a positive effect to them, too. However, none of them are smiling brightly, indicating that even though they are much more relaxed than last night, they still haven’t lost their focus. 

 

Hinata was about to turn and follow his teammates outside when his name was being called. “Shouyou-kun, Yuu-san!” Hinata and Nishinoya turned and found Miyamoto and Komatsu. “Good luck!” Komatsu said, worry apparent on her face. 

 

Miyamoto on the other hand, who was standing beside her, nodded solemnly as he looked at them with confidence. 

 

_“Godspeed.”_

* * *

 

Everyone was silent as the modified tank moved slowly towards the gate. Reon was driving the tank, it was one of the Watcher’s Job Description. All of them received driving training too though, just in case something happens that could prevent Reon from driving. Tawada-san was sitting beside him, accompanying him while occasionally giving him some pointers. 

 

Hinata opened his identifying tag and looked at the pictures inside. They’re probably outside of the walls already now, but still inside of the fence. He closed his eyes and decided to list the things he’s  _not_  going to give up, the things he will go back home to. 

 

 _Kei’s hugs. Kei’s smiles. Kei’s kisses. Kei’s everything. Spending time with his teammates. Bickering with Kageyama. Relaxed talks with Yamaguchi. Fun times with Tanaka-senpai. Talking about random things in general with Ennoshita-san. Teasing Asahi-san. Getting pep talks and advices from Suga-san. Getting praises from Daichi-san. Getting scolded by Daichi-san. Annoying Kageyama. Holding Kei’s hands. Listening to Tanaka-san’s story. Cuddling with Kei._  

 

He kept adding things to his list, it’s endless. 

 

 _I’m going to get this done, and then I’m going to go home._  

 

He repeated the words over and over again. Getting motivation out of it. The more he thought of his teammates (and his boyfriend) the more he wanted to go home. The more he wanted to get this done properly, as soon as possible, and go back to them. 

 

When he opened his eyes, he noticed that his teammates had been doing the same thing. Staring at their pictures, not the chanting mantra part. 

 

Bokuto took a deep breath, closed his identifying tag and brought it up to his lips, gently kissing it. Hinata’s breath hitched. 

 

It looked cool, and he wanted to do it too. 

 

And so, he did. 

 

Which was followed by Nishinoya. And Aone. And  _Ushijima_. 

 

Hinata had never thought that he’d witness Japan kissing  _anything_  in his life, but he just did. 

 

Kuroo grinned at his teammates antiques but followed their lead. 

 

“Let’s get this over with.”

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm trying to update more often so hello! I'm back with another chapter. Thank you to everyone who left comments on the previous chapter(s), I really appreciate them (and for the kudos!).  
> Again, this is one of my first fanfiction ever, so I hope you'll understand if my writting is shitty (english is not my first language so yeah) :")  
> Please let me know what you think about this chapter! <3
> 
> hit me up on tumblr! (sunshinehina)


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